L.A. County vehicle runs over man in sand at Venice Beach
A Los Angeles County vehicle mistakenly ran over a man who was in the sand at Venice Beach on Friday, officials said.
The man in his 50s was in the sand when he was run over by a county Beaches and Harbors vehicle about 8:43 a.m. in the 400 block of Ocean Front Walk, according to Los Angeles County and city fire officials.
The incident occurred near the boardwalk and Rose Tower at Venice Beach, fire officials said.
He suffered traumatic injuries and was taken to UCLA Medical Center, said Carol Baker, spokeswoman for the Department of Beaches and Harbors.
The man was in serious condition, said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
It is unclear whether the man was sunbathing or sleeping on the beach.
The driver, a beach maintenance worker, has been suspended from driving and other regular duties as county officials investigate the incident, Baker said.
Friday’s beach incident isn’t the first time an official vehicle has run over a sunbather along the coast.
An Oxnard police sport utility vehicle ran over Cindy Conolly, 49, as she was sunbathing in 2006.
Three people were run over in 2014 while lying on area beaches.
In February, a trash truck ran over and injured a man who was lying on a beach in Long Beach.
Then in May, a 49-year-old woman was hospitalized after a Los Angeles County maintenance vehicle ran over her as she sunbathed facedown at Venice Beach.
Months later, Lorae Bermudez, 25, was run over by a Los Angeles County lifeguard vehicle in September as she was sunbathing on Venice Beach. Bermudez, a Whittier resident, suffered bone fractures and cuts to her internal organs.
The driver reportedly didn’t see her.
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