Car Plows Into Restaurant; 8 Hurt : Accident: The vehicle was stopped at a crosswalk 100 feet from the Sherman Oaks eatery when it was rear-ended and slammed into outdoor diners, police say.

Eight people were injured Friday when a car plowed into the outdoor dining area of a crowded Sherman Oaks restaurant during lunch hour, showering patrons with bricks and debris, police said.

About 100 people were at La Frite French restaurant in the 15000 block of Ventura Boulevard about 1:10 p.m. when the car jumped the curb and slammed into a brick planter that surrounds the eatery’s outdoor seating area, Los Angeles Police Officer Dave Cueto said.

As a result of the vehicle’s impact, several tables were knocked over and six diners were hospitalized for minor to moderate injuries.

The driver of the car, Anele Stirbys, 67, of Van Nuys also was hospitalized after complaining of pain in her head and chest.

Stirbys was stopped at a crosswalk about 100 feet east of the restaurant when a car driven by Jill Holden, 24, of Sherman Oaks rear-ended Stirbys’ car and pushed it forward, Cueto said.

Holden also was hospitalized after complaining of pain.

Stirbys “lost control and jumped the curb,” Cueto said, adding that her car was traveling about 20 m.p.h. on the sidewalk.

The car knocked over a parking sign and swerved across 30 feet of sidewalk before it slammed into the three-foot-high brick planter and a metal pole that supports the restaurant’s sign.

Cueto said Stirbys told him: “I could not stop the car. I saw the people in the restaurant and I thought I was going to kill someone.”

Waitress Shannon Pierce, 25, had just dropped off change at a table near the corner where the car hit when she heard a deafening crash.

“I didn’t see it,” she said. “I just heard a big bang and saw stuff go flying. I ducked. I thought it was a bomb.”

Reid Daub, a commercial building inspector for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, ordered restaurant owner Andre Ramillon to close the area near the crash until repairs were made to the damaged planter.

By 3 p.m., a dining area about 30 feet from the crash site had been swept free of debris.

Pierce said several patrons asked that their food be wrapped up and then quickly left the restaurant after the crash.

But Ramillon added that a few went back to their tables and resumed eating.

Pierce said she gave several patrons free meals after the accident.