3 Women Hit, 1 Trapped Under Car In Seekonk Parking Lot Crash

BOSTON (CBS) -- Three people were hit and one was trapped under an SUV outside the Ocean State Job Lot on Highland Ave in Seekonk Thursday afternoon, according to Seekonk police.

Emergency services received calls about the crash just after 1:30 p.m. The three women were walking out of the job lot when the SUV backed out of a parking space and accelerated, running into the women. The cause of the crash is unclear.

"It was just an awful scene," a witness told WBZ-TV. "Just blood everywhere and them screaming."

Police said airbags were used to lift the car off of at least one person.

"The woman under the car just kept saying 'Take the car off me. Please have someone take the car off me," a witness told WBZ-TV. "I was just trying to calm her down."

All three victims were women, police said, and were taken to a hospital for serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

The driver, James McAleer, was charged Friday with negligent operation of a motor vehicle. The police department also filed immediate threat complaints to the Massachusetts RMV and Rhode Island DMV.

Witnesses described the driver as an elderly man. They said he got out of the car and calmly waited for police nearby.

The incident is still under investigation. No further information has been released.