Crash blamed on zombies: A Southern California man is accused of stealing a big rig truck over the weekend before crashing it and flipping it on the side. He claimed that “zombies” were chasing him, police said.
Jerimiah Hartline, 19, allegedly stole the vehicle, which was loaded with strawberries, in Riverside County. He then sped down Interstate 15 in Temecula and after several crashes, the rig overturned.
In the crashes, he hit several vehicles and injured seven people, according to the Union-Times paper. He is also accused of hitting two other cars before he jackknifed and blocked four lanes of traffic.
As of Wednesday, he was still in jail, reported the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
California Highway Patrol Officer Nathan Baer told the paper that Hartline said he was being chased by zombies and he had to leave immediately.
“He was arrested at the crash scene and appeared to be in an altered state, claiming he was being chased by zombies,” Baer said.
The truck was stolen when its original driver got out to weigh it on scales near the town of Rainbow.
Baer described Hartline as a transient, who had hitched a ride with the trucker before he stole it.
He also said that the suspect was under the influence of an unknown drug before he started to hallucinate, according to the Union Times.
Hartline was treated at a hospital before he was sent to French Valley jail.
Two of the seven victims were seriously hurt.
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