A 20-year-old woman was hospitalized on Wednesday after a California State Parks lifeguard truck drove over her as she lay on the sand at Francis Beach in Half Moon Bay, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies responded around 3:45 p.m. following reports of the collision, Gretchen Spiker, director of communications for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, said in a statement to NTD News. Initial indications suggested the lifeguard driving the vehicle may have been distracted at the time, Spiker said.
The woman was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Francis Beach, also referred to as Kelly State Beach, falls under the jurisdiction of California State Parks, but sheriff's deputies were called in to lead the investigation, which remained ongoing as of Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether any citations or charges would be filed in connection with the incident.
A spokesperson for California State Parks confirmed to NTD News that a State Parks seasonal lifeguard struck the female visitor.
The beach is located along the Northern California coastline south of San Francisco. Francis Beach serves as the site of Half Moon Bay State Beach Visitor Center and features a paved ramp leading down to the sand, as well as a campground accommodating both RVs and tents.
Wednesday's incident follows a troubling stretch of beach-related tragedies along California's coastline this summer.
Investigators believe the two women had fallen asleep near a passage known as "the keyhole"—a narrow opening connecting Panther Beach to Yellow Bank Beach—when the tide rose and swept them into the surf. Santa Cruz County Volunteer Fire Captain Kyle Breton said the area has a history of catching visitors off guard.
"What we're also seeing is that people go through the keyhole to get to Yellow Bank Beach, and then they get trapped on Yellow Bank Beach because the tides come in, so it's an area that's catching people unaware," Breton said at a June 10 press briefing.
The deaths followed another fatal ocean incident just one day earlier. On June 9, a 5-year-old girl was swept off Treasure Island Beach in Laguna Beach during an evening outing with her family. Her body was recovered more than 30 hours later by Laguna Beach Marine Safety personnel, roughly a quarter mile from where she entered the water.
The National Weather Service had issued Beach Hazards Statements for Orange and San Diego counties at the time of that incident, warning of surf reaching up to 9 feet on south-facing beaches.