Last Updated on January 5, 2023 by CCAR Staff
She laughed nervously on the witness stand but under questioning a woman who said she was struck and thrown onto the hood of Darren Enscoe’s car described her demeanor as a way of coping with the events of that night.
“That was really, really scary,” said Simone Hall, of the collision where a vehicle struck five people in downtown Riverside almost two years ago. The incident occurred on Dec. 6, 2014 on Mission Inn Avenue as Festival of Lights revelers and protestors of recent police shootings in other states mingled.
“He pursed his lips. He looked angry, then he hit me,” she said of Enscoe. Seconds after she slid off the BMW onto the pavement and out of the way, the driver sped away, she testified. The crowd reacted in a frenzy.
Hall was the first witness called Thursday in the trial of Enscoe, 49, of Chino, who is accused of five counts of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon — one for each victim — one count of failing to render aid and one count of hit and run. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Riverside police said at the time that some pedestrians reported suffering minor injuries but declined medical attention at the scene. Hall testified she went to a doctor two days later for back pains and was unable to take fall semester community college finals until February 2015.
Enscoe’s attorney, Robert E. Scott, in his opening statement described how his client and his wife were unfamiliar with the area and encountered the crowd and traffic gridlock. Enscoe’s wife got out of the car, called 911, was told police were in the area then got in the car but didn’t lock the door.
As Enscoe tried to drive through slowly, the crowd began banging on the car and someone pulled the passenger door open. “It was terrifying for them, “ Scott said. “What he did was panic. He took off” to escape the crowd.
Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Khoury pointed out in her opening statement that Enscoe did not stop to see if anyone was hurt, did not call 911 and it took law enforcement several days to track him down. She said his actions showed a “deliberate choice and it was the wrong choice.”
