A driver accused of running over a group of migrant workers outside a Walmart in Lincolnton, North Carolina Sunday afternoon turned himself in, saying he hit the gas pedal by accident, police say. He was arrested and charged.

Six people, all identified by police as migrant workers, were injured "in what appears to be an intentional assault with a vehicle," the Lincolnton Police Department said previously. The six people were taken to a hospital, but all were released Sunday. 

Police say Daniel Gonzalez, who claimed to be the driver, went to the Lincolnton Police Department with family members Monday. The family members said Gonzalez told them that he was was driving in the Walmart parking lot and hit the gas by accident. He said he panicked and left the scene. 

What You Need To Know

  •  A black SUV hit six men, all identified as migrant farm workers, in a Walmart parking lot Sunday in Lincolnton, North Carolina, police said

  •  The six men were taken to a hospital with injuries, but all were released Sunday, according to police

  •  Police said the driver of the SUV, identified as 68-year-old Daniel Gonzalez, turned himself in Monday

  • Gonzalez, who said he accidentally hit the gas, is charged with felony hit and run

Gonzalez, 68, of Hickory, was charged with felony hit and run. He received a $50,000 secured bond. 

The crash happened just after 1:15 p.m. Sunday at the Walmart at 306 North Generals Blvd. in Lincolnton, about 45 minutes northwest of Charlotte, police said. 

Police shared grainy images of an older model black SUV with a luggage rack they say rammed into the men. Investigators initially believed the driver was an older white man.

The workers had gotten off a bus from working at Knob Creek Orchard in Lawndale, a rural town west of Lincolnton, Maj. Brian Greene, interim chief of the Lincolnton Police Department, told the Associated Press.

The workers made the same trip every week and used a shaded part of the parking lot as a place to meet the bus, he said.

Video from the Walmart parking lot shows people getting off a white bus. A black SUV drives slowly passed the bus and turns in front of it. The video appears to show the SUV accelerate as it drives over the median, hitting the men. 

The SUV stops briefly and then drives off the way it came, the video shows. 

Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on state and federal authorities to investigate the assault as a possible hate crime.

“Because of the persistent anti-immigrant hate we have witnessed nationwide in recent years, we urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to probe a possible bias motive for this alleged attack,” said CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper.   

Police say Gonzalez was cooperative with detectives. The victims were notified of Gonzalez' arrest, and police recovered the SUV involved in the case. 

"The Lincolnton Police Department would like to North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles: License & Theft Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security, Paramount Kia, Paramount Hyundai and Keith Hawthorne Hyundai, and Walmart for their assistance with this investigation," Lincolnton police said.

Authorities ask anyone with additional information to contact the Lincolnton Police Department at (704) 736-8900.