Driver Of Stolen Pickup Truck In Boston Public Garden Crash Arrested

BOSTON (CBS) - A homeless man has been charged in a horrific pickup truck crash at the entrance to the Boston Public Garden that left a woman critically hurt. Keith Andrade, 58  was ordered held on $20,000 bail at his arraignment in municipal court Friday afternoon.

According to WBZ-TV I-Team sources, a firefighter left the truck running outside the Boylston Street fire station Thursday afternoon when a man stole it and took off. A short time later, it crashed through the garden gate at the corner of Boylston and Charles Street South.

A woman who had been walking on the sidewalk was pinned under the debris. A nurse and a doctor rushed to help her before she was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

According to the police report, she was entering the garden with a friend when they heard a "loud sound" and saw a pickup truck coming at them at a "rapid rate of speed." The woman tripped on a high heel and couldn't get out of the way before she was hit.

"She grabbed the victim's hand in an attempt to pull her out of the way.  She tripped on her high heel and was consequently unable to get out of the way to avoid being struck," said prosecutor Colleen O'Neill.

Prosecutors corroborating witness accounts said that Andrade took off bleeding from the forehead and tried to blend in on the Common. But hours later near Downtown Crossing, police arrested Andrade, saying he matched witness descriptions.

When officers approached him they said he gave them another name. Police discovered he had two active warrants for larceny and arrested him.

In court Friday, Andrade's attorney said his client has been misidentified.

"My client does have a mark on his face, but it's not a laceration or a recent cut," said defense attorney Richard Noone.

Andrade is facing several charges including larceny of a motor vehicle, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and leaving the scene of an accident.