Disaster avoided at Rose Parade after driver smashes through barrier

A near disaster was avoided at the 135th Rose Parade on Monday, Jan. 1, when a woman in her 20s rammed her car into a barricade at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Chester Avenue, according to city officials.

The incident happened at around 10 a.m., said Lisa Derderian, Pasadena city spokesperson. A female in her early 20s was traveling northbound on Chester Avenue toward the Rose Parade route on Colorado Boulevard.

And, even though the barrier ramming occured just a few block from the protest at Lake and Colorado that briefly interruped the Rose Parade, the two were not related according to Derderian.

The suspect attempted to ram though the barricades there, Derdarian said, and had she been successful, would have injured numerous parade watchers.

The driver’s vehicle sustained significant damage and the barricades set up there did their job of protecting people, Derderian said.

The suspect was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

Two off-duty police officers, not from Pasadena, assisted in detaining the driver before Pasadena PD could arrive, according to Derderian.

For New Year’s Eve, Derderian said there were no arrest overnight and police had just 10 calls for medical aid. Some of those calls were related to the LuLulemon 5K run and others were to assist with intoxicated parade waiters.

“Some people celebratrated a little too heavily,” Derderian said, “and sadly, never even got to see the parade.”

Source: Orange County Register