All but one of the Anaheim High School track athletes injured when a car swerved off the road and struck them have been released from hospitals, police said Friday.
A girl on the team remains hospitalized but her injuries are not considered life-threatening, said Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter.
The students were waiting on the southwest corner of North Harbor Boulevard and North Street for the light to change and continue their run about 2:55 p.m. Wednesday when the driver swerved off the road and struck them, according to Sutter.
The driver of the Toyota Corolla was southbound on Harbor at North Street on a green light when he veered off the road, Sutter said.
The eight students, ages 16 and 17, were injured with seven taken to a hospital with varying degrees of injuries, Sutter said. The driver was 27-year-old Anthony Alva-Palafox of Anaheim, who was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, Sutter said.
Alva-Palafox was also taken to a hospital to be treated, Sutter said. He has since bailed out of custody. It is expected to take at least seven weeks for lab tests to come back so that prosecutors can determine whether he was intoxicated at the time of the collision.
The team’s coach was behind the students and was running up to them when the collision happened, Sutter said.