- Jan 7, 2002
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SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The convertible that plowed into a marching band and a crowd of spectators during a St. Patrick?s Day parade was subject to a 2002 recall to fix problems with sticking accelerators.
But DaimlerChrysler spokesman Max Gates said company records indicate the 1996 Chrysler Sebring JX was taken to a shop and had the problem repaired.
The driver, John Edward Sheppard, told police the car accelerated out of control and would not stop when he applied the brake during the parade in Savannah, according to a police report released Friday.
Witnesses said the shamrock-decorated convertible, an escort vehicle in the parade, lurched from the parade route and seemed to accelerate out of control, veering through a police bagpipe band and into a crowd of spectators. Nine people were hurt; none suffered life-threatening injuries.
DaimlerChrysler recalled 88,000 of the 1996 and 1997 Sebring convertibles in August 2002. The company said frayed throttle control cables in those models had caused the accelerator to bind or stick, increasing the risk of a crash.
Police said Sheppard, 62, owned the car less than a year, registering it seven months after the recall was issued.
?Mr. Sheppard has not been officially absolved, but it?s safe to say the investigation is focusing on the vehicle,? Savannah police spokesman Bucky Burnsed said Friday.
Investigators planned to have a Chrysler mechanic check the car?s accelerator; they also have a videotape of the crash filmed by a parade spectator, Burnsed said.
Sheppard did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
?I just knew it wasn?t his fault,? said Gene Hahne, a friend who was in the parade directly behind Sheppard?s car. ?He did everything he could. He tried to put on the brakes, he tried to put it in park. Nothing worked.?
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But DaimlerChrysler spokesman Max Gates said company records indicate the 1996 Chrysler Sebring JX was taken to a shop and had the problem repaired.
The driver, John Edward Sheppard, told police the car accelerated out of control and would not stop when he applied the brake during the parade in Savannah, according to a police report released Friday.
Witnesses said the shamrock-decorated convertible, an escort vehicle in the parade, lurched from the parade route and seemed to accelerate out of control, veering through a police bagpipe band and into a crowd of spectators. Nine people were hurt; none suffered life-threatening injuries.
DaimlerChrysler recalled 88,000 of the 1996 and 1997 Sebring convertibles in August 2002. The company said frayed throttle control cables in those models had caused the accelerator to bind or stick, increasing the risk of a crash.
Police said Sheppard, 62, owned the car less than a year, registering it seven months after the recall was issued.
?Mr. Sheppard has not been officially absolved, but it?s safe to say the investigation is focusing on the vehicle,? Savannah police spokesman Bucky Burnsed said Friday.
Investigators planned to have a Chrysler mechanic check the car?s accelerator; they also have a videotape of the crash filmed by a parade spectator, Burnsed said.
Sheppard did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
?I just knew it wasn?t his fault,? said Gene Hahne, a friend who was in the parade directly behind Sheppard?s car. ?He did everything he could. He tried to put on the brakes, he tried to put it in park. Nothing worked.?
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