9 Injured as Van Plows Into Group of Pedestrians

Nine people were injured Sunday, four critically, when a van swerved to avoid a car at a Huntington Park intersection, jumped a curb, plowed into a group of pedestrians and crashed into a restaurant wall, authorities said.

Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said the injured included a family of five, a female bystander and the driver and two passengers in the van.

Police Lt. Steve Peeler said that the members of the injured family, all of whom were critically injured, included the father, 35, the mother, 34, a 1 1/2 year-old-girl, a 9-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. The other pedestrian was identified as a 37-year-old woman.

Arturo Valdez, 29, a cook’s helper at the Pacific Restaurant, said the van sounded like a bomb as it struck the restaurant wall. Valdez said he saw one man fly about six feet off the ground after apparently being struck by the van.

Girl Among Injured

He also said he saw four others sprawled across the sidewalk, including a young girl. “She was all twisted up. Seemed like everything was broken,” he said. Valdez and other witnesses said they did not hear the sound of brakes before the van hit the wall.

The driver of the car, whose name was not released by police, fled the immediate scene, said Sgt. Mike Leinen. But he returned to within a block of the accident site and sat in his car, Leinen said. Witnesses pointed him out to officers who took him to the station for questioning.

“He saw the accident and determined he was somewhat at fault,” Leinen said. “He said he was afraid of what the crowd might do if it was determined that he was the cause of the accident.”

Police said the car’s driver, a 21-year-old male whose name was not released, admitted to making an illegal left turn and has been found to be one of the parties at fault in the accident. The driver was released Sunday evening without being cited, Leinen said.

The injured driver of the van, 27-year-old Luis Jauregui of Huntington Park, “could also be at fault, but it is too early to say for sure,” Leinen said.

Five paramedic squads and six ambulances--two of which had to make two trips--responded to the incident, firefighters said.

Identities of eight of the victims were not immediately available. The victims were taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, County-USC Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and St. Francis Medical Center.