Parade Motorcycle Crash: Palm Springs Police Chief names officer involved in accident; updates injuries and investigation
Update - 12/10/24
Los Angeles-based Formica Law Group announced it is officially representing multiple victims of the crash.
The law group noted that the victims include a 4-year-old and a 12-year-old.
Update - 12/9/24
Palm Springs police chief Andy Mills told News Channel 3 on Monday that he has grounded the department's motorcycle fleet.
Mills told News Channel 3's Garrett Hottle on Monday that three people remain hospitalized, including the officer involved. The officer, Kenney Merenda, did not lose a hand as other agencies reported, but Mills said he will need future surgeries.
Update - 12/8/24
More details are emerging after a Palm Springs police officer crashed his motorcycle into a crowd of people at the Festival of Lights Parade in downtown.
Palm Springs Police chief, Andy Mills said the officer lost control of the motorcycle as the parade began.
"An officer was on his motorcycle and doing crowd control as well as some demonstrations," Mills said. "When he turned around the back side of a car, he lost his balance on the bike. His foot slipped off the peg and it caused him to have to grip the handlebars, which caused the bike to accelerate at a rapid speed."
He said there were no fatalities.
"My understanding is 12 people total were injured, including our officer," Mills said. "We've got 3 still in the hospital, officer and 2 people that were at the crash scene."
Mills said several people were involved in the decision to continue the parade after the accident happened.
"If we tell everybody the parades' over and they need to leave, now you have 100,000 people walking in different places, it becomes more chaotic," Mills said. "I really felt that based on what I was seeing, we could control it better by continuing with the parade and then letting people trickle out as they normally do in that parade."
Mills said it's too soon to report any initial findings from Palm Springs Police Department's internal investigation.
"The internal investigation will examine every single detail of this collision," Mills said.
Mills released a statement about visiting Officer Kenney Merenda, the officer involved, at Desert Regional.
Original Article - 12/7/24
The annual Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade was interrupted after a Palm Springs Police officer on a motorcycle crashed into a crowd of people.
According to Palm Springs Police, just after 6 p.m. Saturday night, 10 people including the officer were transported to nearby hospitals with varying degrees of injuries.
Leo Pineda, a bystander at the parade said "we heard the loud motorcycle that did not sound normal, like it should not be there and then a crash and we saw everyone running toward it to help people. It was just freaky"
Video obtained by News Channel 3, shows 2 officers riding motorcycles through the parade route, when a third officer drives through, crashing into the sidewalk.
G Winston, bystander “It seemed to me as if the police motorcycle valve got stuck and the next thing i knew the bike was heading toward people sitting curbside, I heard an unusual speed for this small of a crowd i now they can stop on a dime so it just didn’t make sense to me “”
Several bystanders jumped into action, including Idelle, who helped tourniquet a woman's leg after she was hit, “I was trying to wrap her leg to stop the bleeding and get help for you guys because nobody's here. And so everybody joined in just helping everybody and came as a community like we do” said Idelle.
Palm Springs Police chief, Andy Mills said in a statement "By now most of our community knows one of our traffic motors had an accident on his motorcycle and unfortunately several citizens and our officer were injured. I feel terrible about the accident and injuries to the very people we protect. I am deeply concerned and hope for a thorough recovery. CHP has been asked to conduct a complete traffic investigation and we will conduct an administrative investigation. As Chief of Police, I am responsible for this department and the men and women who serve. After we conduct our investigations I will report back to the community. Again, I am truly sorry."
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of this crash, it's asking anyone with photo or video evidence to please come forward.
Stay with News Channel 3 for the latest developments.
