Sunnyvale crash: Driver targeted victims because he thought they were Muslim, police say – San Francisco Chronicle

An Army veteran who faces eight counts of attempted murder after plowing his car into a crowd of people in Sunnyvale, critically injuring a 13-year-old girl, targeted the victims because he thought some of them were Muslim, police officials said Friday.

Isaiah Joel Peoples, 34, was ordered held without bail Friday at his first appearance in court since being arrested and charged with steering his black 2010 Toyota Corolla into eight pedestrians Tuesday evening. The defendant said nothing during the brief appearance in Judge Richard Loftus’ courtroom at the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose.

“Based on our investigation, new evidence shows that the defendant intentionally targeted the victims based on their race and his belief that they were of the Muslim faith,” Sunnyvale Police Chief Phan Ngo said outside court. The chief didn’t explain what evidence led police to believe this and did not say whether any of the victims are Muslim.

The Santa Clara County district attorney’s office charged Peoples with eight counts of attempted murder, four of which have enhancement for causing great bodily injury. Prosecutors have not filed hate crime enhancements in the case, but are prepared to do so “if the investigation yields enough evidence,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Borarsky said.

“There is very appalling, disturbing evidence that at least one or two of these victims were targeted based on the defendant’s view of what their race or religion may have been,” Borarsky said, adding that “we have zero tolerance for any sort of hate crime.”

Sunnyvale police Capt. Jim Choi said Peoples has made “no statements of remorse” since his arrest Tuesday evening.

Peoples’ attorney, Chuck Smith, challenged the accusations and said his client did not intentionally run down anyone and has been “praying for the victims injured from his actions.”

“This act was clearly the product of some mental disorder or mental defect,” Smith said after the hearing. “There is no explanation for this other than his service, the things he saw, and what happened to him mentally while serving our country.”

Peoples served in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2006 and was honorably discharged before joining the Army Reserve in 2008. He was a civil affairs specialist who retained the rank of sergeant and was deployed to Iraq from June 2005 to May 2006, officials said.

His brother has told The Chronicle that Peoples was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder after his return from the Middle East. He was on medication and spent nearly a year in a mental institution in 2015, his brother, Joshua Peoples, said.

Before he ran down the crowd, Peoples picked up food and was heading toward a Bible study group, police said. One witness told The Chronicle that he reached speeds up to 60 mph before striking the victims. Police later found a disassembled, inoperative shotgun in the Toyota, they said.

Peoples hit seven of the eight victims he targeted, police said. One of the victims pushed his 9-year-old son out of the car’s path. The father, however, was hit, along with his 13-year-old daughter, who authorities said is the most severely injured victim.

She remains in critical condition in a coma with swelling to her brain, police officials wrote in court papers. Doctors removed the left side of her skull to relieve pressure. She also has a broken pelvis.

“Our hearts are with her and her loved ones as we pray for her recovery,” Ngo said.

The six other victims have injuries ranging from broken bones to minor scrapes.

After crashing into the crowd at the intersection of El Camino Real and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, a witness said, Peoples got out of his car and repeatedly mumbled, “Thank you, Jesus,” before police came to the scene and arrested him.

The attack comes as many local Muslims have grown fearful and frustrated over recent anti-Muslim rhetoric and attacks around the country and world. Last month, a man suspected of having white nationalist ties gunned down 49 people at two mosques in New Zealand during Friday prayer.

In the United States, Muslims were the target of nearly 19% of religiously motivated hate crimes, according to FBI data released in 2018.

“My heart breaks for anyone who is an innocent victim of hate,” said Samina Sundas, founder of the American Muslim Voice Foundation, a Bay Area Muslim advocacy group. “People are just killing right and left. I don’t know when it will stop.”

Sundas said people shouldn’t focus on divisiveness when tragedies like the one in Sunnyvale happen.

“More of us need to dedicate ourselves to love, not hate,” she said.

Lauren Hernández, Tatiana Sanchez and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor @TatianaYSanchez @EvanSernoffsky