LOS ANGELES (AP) — The driver of a minivan that crashed outside a Los Angeles metro station, killing three women and critically injuring two more, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and three counts of murder, police said Wednesday.
Authorities say the driver was able to talk but appeared in shock after Tuesday's crash, which hit pedestrians and food vendors at a busy intersection in the North Hollywood neighborhood during the height of the evening commute.
Police identified the driver as Ihor Demianenko, 61, a resident of the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jail records show Demianenko was booked early Wednesday, with bail set at a little over $6 million. He was treated for minor injuries at a hospital, police said.
It was not immediately clear if Demianenko had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. In California, drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be charged with murder under certain circumstances.
The white Toyota Sienna was traveling at an “unsafe speed” at around 6 p.m. when it veered to the right, ran off the road and collided with a light, Los Angeles police said in a news release Wednesday. It came to rest under a food vendor’s tent.
The force of the collision threw victims in different directions, according to the news release. The driver was trapped in the vehicle until rescuers arrived.
Luis Luna-Guzman was working at a burger stand nearby when he heard a loud boom and saw people on the ground along with food and cups. People started running toward the crash.
He found an injured woman lying near some bike racks, her face, arms and legs bloody, he said, recalling her eyes were closed as she moaned in pain.
“I told her, ‘Don’t move, help is coming,’” Luna-Guzman said, adding that he saw a woman’s body nearby, while another woman was lying unmoving on the stairs leading to the station.
The three women who died were between the ages of 40 and 60, according to the police news release. They have not been identified. The two injured women are in their 50s.
The minivan was still on the sidewalk Tuesday night under the food vendor’s tent, its driver’s side door open and an air bag deployed. Fire engines and emergency crews worked nearby as a helicopter flew overhead.
Investigators will go through video of the crash frame by frame, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said.
“It will be probably a prolonged but a very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here,” he said.
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Thanawala reported from Atlanta.
