Car Strikes 3 Children as Brakes Fail

Three children, including a toddler, were seriously injured Sunday in Tarzana when a car lost its brakes coming down a freeway off-ramp, crossed an intersection and struck the children, authorities said.

The youngsters were walking with their mother, who witnessed the accident. The family lives in Tarzana.

The car was driven by Iris Warren, a 43-year-old Los Angeles realtor, who lost control when the brakes failed as she exited the southbound Reseda Boulevard off-ramp of the Ventura Freeway about 4:45 p.m., said Officer Clark Baker of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The 1963 Mercury Monterey ran through the intersection at about 40 m.p.h. and struck the children--two boys and a girl--as they were walking, Baker said.

The boys are 3 and 4 years old. The girl is 1 year old.

The 3-year-old, who suffered the most serious injuries, was in a stroller with the 1-year-old at the time of the accident. The stroller was yanked from the mother’s hands when the car struck the children, Baker said.

“At one point during the collision, the stroller was underneath the vehicle,” he said.

The 3-year-old was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center and admitted to the intensive care unit, an unidentified hospital official said. Paramedics said the child suffered major head trauma, multiple broken bones and the loss of three or four toes, Baker said.

The 4-year-old, who was taken to the Medical Center of Tarzana, suffered a broken left leg and possible eye damage from glass that shattered during the collision, Baker said.

The girl suffered a head cut and was taken to the same hospital.

Baker said investigators at the scene found a bottle of brake fluid in Warren’s car that could be a factor in the investigation.

Warren, who was not injured, has not been charged in the accident.