20-year-old woman charged after driving into crowd, injuring college students in North Carolina

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A 20-year-old woman has been arrested and accused of being the driver in a hit-and-run that injured 15 people in March, according to the Greensboro Police Department.

Police said Zamyria Nicole Maness, 20, of Greensboro, was arrested on Monday and charged with the following:

• 15 counts of felony hit-and-run
• 9 counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury
• 6 counts of assault with a deadly weapon
• careless and reckless driving
• failure to reduce speed
• failure to stop
• no operator’s license
• operating a vehicle with no insurance
• filing a false report of a stolen vehicle

Background

The crash occurred at about 7:20 p.m. on March 29 in the area of South Eugene and West Whittington streets. Video taken of the crash that circulated online showed a car speeding through a large crowd and hitting several people.

“We heard the car rev up, and everyone kind of just ran in the opposite direction,” North Carolina A&T freshman Kennedy Stewart said. “Me and my friends weren’t trying to run, but since everyone was running around us, we were getting pushed, so we had to go.”

Stewart told FOX8 that she came to the scene to attend a large party.

Greensboro police reported that 11 people were injured in the crash with the most serious injuries being broken bones. Everyone injured was between 18 and 22 years old.

“It was for all the students and people to come out and have a great time, have fun and party,” said Jacob, a student who wanted to remain anonymous.

He said the event was a party organized by students.

“We had too many people show up, so they closed us down and we moved to another location, that also got closed down, and then we moved to that last location right there at that gas station,” he said.

That’s where things took a terrifying turn.

“I believe two or more girls started fighting or whatever, and a dude threw a charger at the police officer to get the police officer off of the girl,” Jacob said. “He threw the charger and the cop said ‘I am about to mace’ and everybody started running.”

He estimated that at least 1,000 students started to run across South Eugene Street near the intersection of Whittington Street.

“You heard {them} slam on the gas and rev {the} engine up and then all of a sudden you just see the car come flying past and just hit 10 [to] 15 people,” Jacob said. “I was standing right there, and it was something you don’t believe because you don’t see it on a daily, like a day-to-day. It threw me for a loop, and I was like, ‘did that really just happen.'”

Greensboro police later sent out a news release accusing the organizers of the event of placing “profit over safety.”

“There’s a right way and a wrong way to hold events, and we saw an example of the latter on March 29 when a poorly planned, unsanctioned event brought hundreds more people to a location than it could safely accommodate,” GPD said in the news release. “This creates a public safety issue for everyone.”

On Tuesday, a student spoke at a Greensboro City Council meeting and said they were expecting Greensboro police to provide security at the event, but Greensboro police said there was no contract or agreement for off-duty Greensboro police officers to be at the event.

GPD works with a third-party vendor, Extra Duty Solutions , for off-duty officers to voluntarily take jobs fulfilling security requests for private entities. Extra Duty Solutions confirmed that someone requested three officers and one supervisor to provide security for the event. GPD said no Greensboro officers had accepted off-duty jobs with Extra Duty Solutions that day.

In the news release, the police department added that the organizer’s request to EDS was submitted the week of the event and that they had requested only for traffic work, not security.

EDS notified the organizer in writing that coverage was not guaranteed, and GPD says they ultimately could not fulfill the request due to short notice and the Easter holiday weekend, which was also spring break for Guilford County Schools students.

“The promoter was aware of this and yet continued to place profit over safety and continued with the event,” GPD said.

FOX8 reached out to the student who spoke at the Greensboro City Council but did not receive a response.

The Greensboro Police Department’s news release is included in full below .

After this week’s City Council meeting, we want to voice support for Mayor Nancy Vaughan’s efforts to hold event promoters accountable for ensuring safety is a priority. There’s a right way and a wrong way to hold events, and we saw an example of the latter on March 29 when a poorly planned, unsanctioned event brought hundreds more people to a location than it could safely accommodate. This creates a public safety issue for everyone.

Greensboro Police officers responded to the event after a 911 call due to a large gathering / party. The event organizer did not “contract” or have any agreement with any off-duty Greensboro Police officers to be on site to work at the unsanctioned event March 29.

The event organizer or promoter put a request in with Extra Duty Solutions (the week of the event) for off-duty officers for traffic work only (not security) ; That request was unable to be filled on relatively short notice for a holiday weekend (which also was Spring Break for GCS students). The promoter was aware of this and yet continued to place profit over safety and continued with the event.

Prior to the event, he also was informed by EDS in writing that coverage was not guaranteed. His request to EDS also did not include any projected attendance numbers.

While officers were on scene assisting with the dispersal of event attendees, an interaction occurred between individuals at the event which caused a vehicle to recklessly speed away, striking numerous individuals. Eleven people were injured. The police department had no contact with this vehicle prior to it fleeing the area. A hit and run investigation is still active.

The Greensboro Police Department constantly collaborates with local partners to include universities, private businesses, and religious establishments to provide safe venues and events for all involved. Unfortunately, when some promoters or event planners fail to make safety a priority, it puts our community at risk.

We look forward to collaborating on work that will improve guidelines for unsanctioned events to better protect students, visitors and others to keep our community safe.

Greensboro Police Department

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