San Diego cabdriver may have blacked out or fallen asleep before crash, police say

San Diego police are investigating whether a cabdriver may have blacked out or fallen asleep before his taxi hit a crowd outside a downtown nightclub, injuring 25 people.

Lt. Rick O'Hanlon said the injured and other witnesses were being interviewed about the crash, which occurred about 2 a.m. Saturday outside the Stingaree nightclub in the Gaslamp district.

Although 23 people were taken to hospitals, none of the injuries were life-threatening, O'Hanlon said.

The most seriously injured was a 42-year-old woman whose leg was severed when she was stuck between the cab and a metal pole. The cab was traveling about 15 mph when it drove onto the sidewalk and into the crowd.

The 48-year-old cabdriver, whose name was not released, had his nose broken either in the crash or from being beaten by people in the crowd.

There is no indication that the cabdriver was drunk, O'Hanlon said. A dozen ambulances took the injured to eight hospitals. Six of the 23 were initially listed as critical, some with broken limbs, bruises and scrapes.

RELATED:

25 injured when San Diego taxi drives into crowd in Gaslamp district

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Cab that struck a crowd outside a downtown San Diego nightclub, injuring 25. Credit: Maurice Luque / San Diego Fire-Rescue Department

Comments

[Suzette]

Maybe he was texting or on his cell phone ? I see those cab drivers every day in downtown San Diego. Many disregard basic driving laws (stopping at stop signs and/or stop lights, unsafe lane changes, speeding, talking or texting on cell phones) and I'm not the only one who will not use them any more. I stopped a few years ago when my taxi driver ridiculed me for asking him (twice) NOT to talk to his wife on his cell phone while he was driving.

Sorry this happened, but they way they drive, not surpised.