LOCAL : Victim, Benefactor Hurt in Crash

A shooting victim and a good Samaritan who was driving him to the hospital were injured this morning when their car crashed in Mission Hills and flipped over, police said.

The shooting victim was then taken by ambulance to the Northridge Hospital Medical Center and was in stable condition after being treated for a gunshot wound to the chest and cuts and bruises from the car accident.

Police declined to identify the victim or the car’s driver, who also suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Lt. Harvie Eubank said the incident began about 3:30 a.m. when a 24-year-old man pulled into a service station at Nordhoff Street and Sepulveda Boulevard and was confronted by a gunman who demanded money. When the motorist refused to turn over any money, he was shot and the gunman fled on foot.

The victim went into the service station and asked for help getting to a hospital. He said he did not want police called because he was wanted by authorities, Eubank said.

A 34-year-old customer who was in the store volunteered to drive the victim’s car and take him to a hospital, police said. But as he drove the car onto a freeway on-ramp, the car swerved, hit a truck and then went off the road and flipped, police said.

Police had not yet determined if the shooting victim was being sought by authorities, Eubank said.