Three people were rushed to the hospital after a driver lost control and struck several people sitting outside a Hollywood restaurant Tuesday night, police said.
The crash happened around 8:45 p.m. as the driver was heading east through the alley between Harrison Street and Hollywood Boulevard at South 20th Avenue, police said.
The driver somehow lost control and struck several pedestrians who were sitting outside a restaurant, police said.
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“I just hear all the screaming, the chaos," Jason Hadley said. "I see my table, now it’s over on this side when it was on the other side of the tree.”
Hadley owns The Bang Shack along South 20th Avenue, where several of his customers were hit by the car.
“I was just talking with those patrons,” Hadley said. “I was just talking to them, with my neighbors. I had my back turned ... [That could have] easily been me.”
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Video posted on social media showed police officers and first responders at the scene working to help the pedestrians.
“I saw the driver get out of the car, and at first, she started putting her hands over her mouth, putting her hands on her head screaming,” Hadley said. “And friends and family of the people on the ground were screaming, ‘She’s drunk, she’s drunk! Take her to jail.’ And she started yelling and pleading, ‘I’m not drunk. I haven’t drunken anything.'"
Tree people were taken to the hospital, Hollywood police said. One of them was in serious condition. Hadley said one woman pinned between the car and the tree.
“My prayers and thoughts go out to her and her family,” Hadley said. “And I hope that she’s able to recover from this.”
Rosemary Villaran was with her friends when the driver lost control and the car jumped the curb. Her friend, who was visiting from Peru, ended up underneath the car and had to get both her legs amputated.
"Everyone was yelling, and when I turned my head, she was under the car and I was trying to stand up to help her," she said.
Police say the driver was also taken to the hospital. Traffic homicide is investigating this case to see if the driver will face charges.
It has not been determined why the driver lost control or if she was under the influence at the time of the crash.
