DUI driver plows into L.A. ambulance transporting elderly patient, police say; 5 hospitalized
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A suspected drunk driver slammed into an ambulance on Sunday night in the San Fernando Valley, officials say.
Five people were injured including the 94-year-old man the ambulance was transporting, the 81-year-old woman accompanying him, the ambulance’s driver and another Los Angeles Fire Department staff member. They were all hospitalized “in fair condition with unknown injuries,” Fire Department spokesperson Jennifer Middleton said Sunday.
The 34-year-old male driver of the SUV that hit the ambulance — the sole person in his vehicle — was taken to a trauma center and was in critical condition, Middleton said.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of felony driving under the influence after the crash, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Drake Madison confirmed Monday.
The LAFD ambulance was struck by the black SUV around 8 p.m. Sunday at Woodman Avenue and Chase Street in Arleta, according to Middleton.
The car was severely damaged, according to online witnesses on TikTok.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation as of Monday.
Another LAFD ambulance carrying crash victims was struck earlier this year in the San Fernando Valley. A battalion chief sent to investigate that collision then collided with a vehicle at the same intersection almost an hour later.
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