State Watch

Man charged with felony after migrants struck by SUV in North Carolina

(Credit: Getty Images)

A North Carolina man who confessed to striking six migrant workers with his car was charged with felony hit-and-run after turning himself into police Monday.

Daniel Gonzalez surrendered himself at the Lincolnton Police Department on Monday evening alongside several family members, police said in a press release.

Gonzalez’s family said he had contacted them after the incident in the Walmart parking lot in Lincolnton, N.C., and told them he had “hit the gas by accident” and “panicked and left the scene.”

Six migrant workers were injured Sunday when Gonzalez drove over a median in the parking lot and into a grassy area where the migrants were located. They were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Police had initially said that the incident appeared to be an “intentional assault.”

The Lincolnton Police Department said Monday that Gonzalez was cooperating with detectives and had received a $50,000 bond.

The incident occurred nearly four months after an SUV ran over a group of migrants standing outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people and injuring 10 others.