PALATKA, Fla. – A driver is in custody after a pick-up truck plowed through a crowd at a city-approved block party in Palatka Saturday night, injuring multiple people and damaging several vehicles, according to the Palatka Police Department.
The block party at North 20th Place and Eagle Street was drawing neighbors together when the situation turned violent.
But according to neighbors who witnessed the incident and asked not to be identified, police had already intervened after fights broke out.
“Cops had to come and stop them two or three times,” one neighbor said.
He said his granddaughter was working as a vendor at the party when she was struck, suffering a leg injury.
“Stopped right near my brother, the truck right there, towards my grandbaby, the tent and all that stuff,” he said. “Happened so fast.”
Despite the chaos, he said she was holding up.
The force of the impact left visible damage on multiple vehicles parked along the street. One truck had a shattered taillight — with broken pieces spread across the road — and a front bumper bent outward.
The owner of another truck says he was on the back of his own vehicle and jumped off just moments before it was struck.
“I didn’t even know if [the driver] was going to make it through there, but he did,” the witness said.
The impact was powerful enough to physically move the truck, according to the neighbor.
“After he hit my truck, he backed up, went on through the crowd,” he said. “I don’t wanna see nothing like that again.”
Police say the investigation is active and ongoing.