A man has died after a woman drove her vehicle through a little league baseball field in Maine during a game.
Douglas Parkhurst, 68, was fatally injured while protecting a group of young baseball players when 51-year-old Carol Sharrow, of Sanford, Maine, plowed her car through the field during the middle of the game, according to the New York Daily News.
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“I saw the car pull out of the gate right over there and this guy had some kids with him,” Justin Cliffton, who had been playing basketball nearby when the deadly incident occurred, told News Center Maine. “After the car got off the field, (the driver) came to the gate and the older guy pushed the kids right out of the way. He took the hit for the kids.”
Witness videos of the incident, which occurred at around 5 p.m. Friday, reportedly show Sharrow speeding onto the field as terrified coaches and players attempt to jump out of the way. She eventually crashed into a closed gate before making her way towards another entrance.
“She entered through the gates behind us and entered onto the field, and then exited the field and exited the ballpark, striking a male in the roadway,” Corporal Matthew Gagne of the Sanford Police Department said. “There was a ballgame going on at the time, so the stands were full. There were kids out on the field at the time as well.”
Several people rushed to Parkhurst’s side once the scene was safe and rendered aid to the 68-year-old, who died en route to the hospital due to the injuries he had sustained.
“Our baseball community was struck by tragedy tonight. We want to share our heartfelt gratitude that physically all of the players from Babe Ruth and Little League are safe and our deep sorrow to the family of the brave man that gave his life tonight protecting others,” the Sanford Maine Little League posted on Facebook.
“On Friday night, the Sanford community endured a tragic incident that no community should have to go through. On the field of our very own Goodall Park, members of our local Babe Ruth League were full fledge into a competitive ball game, only to be interrupted by an unimaginable incident,” they added in a second post, requesting that fans wear their jerseys to the next game to “show how strong not only the baseball community is, but how the City of Sanford can also come together when something so tragic invades something that is a piece of all of us.”
Sharrow has since been arrested and charged with manslaughter. Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the incident.
