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 on Wednesday. The North Hollywood crash driver was booked early Wednesday and is being held on bail of just over $6 million.
The crash happened at about 5:55 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, near Lankershim Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard, outside the North Hollywood Metro station. A white Toyota Sienna was traveling at an “unsafe speed” when it veered to the right, ran off the road and collided with a light, Los Angeles police said in a news release on Wednesday. The minivan struck pedestrians and street vendors at a busy intersection during the height of the evening commute.
Three Women Killed at the Scene
Three women were pronounced dead at the scene. The three women who died were between the ages of 40 and 60, according to the police news release. Two more women, aged 50 to 55, were taken to hospital in critical condition. Witnesses told CBS Los Angeles that the three women were street vendors in the area, and one had worked there for more than 15 years. Two of the victims were identified by relatives as Maria Peck, a mother of five, and Teodora Villalobos, 57, a mother of three from El Salvador. The third woman’s identity had not been released.
Police identified the driver as Ihor Demianenko, 61, who lives in the Valley Village neighbourhood. He was booked early Wednesday at the LAPD’s Valley Jail in Van Nuys and is being held in lieu of $6.03 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records. The driver was able to talk but appeared to be in shock after the crash, and was taken to hospital himself. The case had not yet been presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as of Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson said.
Investigation Continues
Investigators have video from the area and plan to review it carefully to determine how the collision occurred, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said, adding that investigators would examine the footage frame by frame. Police said Demianenko was attempting to avoid another car that was driving “legally and safely” before the crash, and have not publicly established every circumstance leading to the collision, including whether striking the pedestrians was intentional. The arrest does not by itself establish guilt, and the criminal case will depend on the evidence gathered by investigators.
Under California law, drivers who kill someone with a vehicle can be charged with second-degree murder if they are found to have acted with “wantonness and a conscious disregard for life”, under a 1981 California Supreme Court ruling. For more on major crashes, see our report on a bus ploughing into 32 vehicles in Seongnam as 57 were hurt and Bulgaria declaring a day of mourning after fog pile-ups killed 12.
