Chicago Police Department via AP
- A man ran over a group of people celebrating a birthday in Chicago on Sunday.
- Timothy Nielsen allegedly yelled anti-Asian epithets before he reversed his truck on them.
- He's been charged with attempted murder and is being held without bail.
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A man was charged with attempted murder after yelling anti-Asian remarks and ramming his pickup truck into a group of people picnicking in Chicago, several outlets reported.
Police said Timothy Nielsen, 57, drove up to a group of 10 people who were celebrating a birthday on Sunday and complained about their dogs, the Associated Press reported.
Nielsen then intentionally reversed his car over the curb into the crowd, first hitting one person who was trying to flee and giving them minor injuries, then hitting a 42-year-old woman who tried to flee but ended up pinned under the truck and sustained major injuries that required hospitalization, WBBM reported.
Prosecutors said Nielsen drove over bikes, chairs, and a Yeti cooler before his truck struck people.
Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke ordered that Nielsen be held without bail.
Rob Lopez, a friend of the woman who was hospitalized told The Chicago Tribune that Nielsen shouted anti-Asian epithets at one member of the group before he ran his truck through them.
A woman who lived nearby told police Nielsen stopped his car before the incident and complained to her about "yuppies on the boulevard out with their dogs" and then told her "watch what I'm going to do."
Nielsen also allegedly took out a knife and swung it at members of the group who tried to get him out of his car after he ran the woman over.