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Woman runs down 3 outside court before jumping to her death

Posted at 12:18 AM, Nov 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-08 03:08:03-05

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) — A woman ran over her estranged husband and two of his friends as the trio left a family court Monday and then jumped to her death off a bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said.
 
Several witnesses saw the woman speed up and hit the three people outside a courthouse in Martinez. She was reversing the car when she hit a female victim a second time, Martinez Police Cmdr. Eric Ghisletta said. The three were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.
 
The woman, who had been in court with her husband, then fled the scene and minutes later jumped off the Benicia Bridge, Ghisletta said. She was not immediately identified, pending notification of her family.
 
The U.S. Coast Guard found the body of a woman in the water under the bridge after police received a call of a person jumping off. The vehicle matching the description of the one used to hit the pedestrians was found on the bridge near where the woman jumped, Ghisletta said.
 
"Based on all indications, it appears it could be the same woman," he said.
 
The East Bay Times reported bystanders tried breaking the driver's-side window on the woman's car after the collision, but a witness said she sped out of the area. Witness Christina Parson, 30, who was pushing her friend's baby stroller across a nearby crosswalk when the collision happened, said there was no question about the woman's intent.
 
"It was deliberate. You can tell it was," said Parson, who was helping her friend with a property dispute in court Monday. "An officer came running out of the courthouse, and I screamed for him to get help."