Yesterday, one woman was killed and two others were injured after a U-Haul crashed into a crowd tailgating before the Yale-Harvard Football game. Police confirmed today that the driver of the U-Haul, Yale student Brandon J. Ross, passed a standard Field Sobriety Test at the scene—no charges have been filed against him thus far.
Nancy Barry, 30, of Massachusetts, was killed in the accident, while 30-year-old Yale student Sarah Short remains hospitalized with mobility issues; the third victim, Harvard employee Elizabeth Dernbach, was released from the hospital late yesterday.
The tailgaters had gathered for the 128th game of the Ivy League rivalry. The U-Haul, which was filled with beer kegs, was headed for the lot at the Sigma Phi Epsilon party just outside the Yale Bowl, according to the Yale Daily News. “[The driver] looked like he hit the gas and couldn’t stop,” witness Stewart Dandorf, a student at the Yale School of Public Health, told the Post. After striking the fans, it crashed into another U-Haul, which then ricocheted into a third truck. “He probably saved a few lives by running into these U-Hauls as opposed to going straight,” Dandorf said.
Police gave this statement about the incident and investigation into it: "As of yet, no criminal charges have been filed against Ross. The outcome of the Forensic Investigation into the U-haul truck and its mechanics, and the review of witness' statements, is required before the investigation can move towards a conclusion."
“There was a wave of screams when we saw the truck was going through the crowd, then a lot of ‘Oh my God’ and ‘What the hell is going on?’” Yale student Angela Ramirez told Yale Daily News. “There was one girl by me who was hyperventilating because she couldn’t find her friend and thought she wasn’t okay. There was another guy who couldn’t find his friend and started crying.” You can see a video of that scene after the crash below:
