Post date: Aug 04, 2013 10:9:25 AM
Twelve people are injured when a car drives through the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 3, 2013) (NBC) - A motorist drove a car through the popular Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles on Saturday (August 3), injuring at least a dozen people in a hit-and-run incident, authorities said.
"There was a hit-and-run and the vehicle is in custody. The driver fled on foot. There is a possible suspect who has been detained," said Daniel Chun, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.Witnesses described a dark-colored sedan moving at speeds as much as 20 miles per hour (32 kph) down the oceanside pedestrian walkway before 6 p.m., saidBrian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Other witnesses described the horrific aftermath of the incident.
"The scene was really bad, there was tables, there was people everywhere, blood everywhere. There was scattered stuff, it was horrible. It was the ugliest scene I've ever seen," said Chelsea Alvarez, whose grandmother was one of the pedestrians hit by the motorist's car.
Ten of the 12 people hurt were transported to hospitals, two in critical condition and two in serious condition. Of the eight who sustained minor injuries, two declined hospital treatment, Humphrey said.
In 2003, an elderly man drove his car through a crowded farmers' market in nearby Santa Monica, killing 10 people and injuring 69.