Police charged a 19-year-old driver after he was accused of hitting six pedestrians with his vehicle in the parking lot of Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis.
Rasool Al Janabi faces five counts of leaving the scene of an accident with physical injury, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It wasn’t clear whether he was in custody.
The charging documents say Janabi on Sunday night drove past a barricade that had blocked off the entrance to the parking lot at Ted Drewe’s, at 6716 Chippewa.
Police wrote that he struck at least five people and hit a sixth person while reversing his car. Police said that sixth person was trying to keep him at the scene of the crash.
Someone else was in the car with Janabi when the crash happened, St. Louis police spokesman Mitch McCoy said.
Janabi left the area, but later came back with a family member as police were investigating the crash.
Police said all six victims are expected to survive.
St. Louis NPR reported one of the victims was an off-duty police officer.
Ted Drewes’ account on Facebook posted this message after the accident:
It’s not the first time a serious injury has occurred at the popular stand on Route 66.
Two pedestrians died in separate accidents in 2022 there, prompting city officials to make plans for safety improvements in the area.
(Image of Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis by Philip Leara via Flickr)