The car crashed into a group of trained policemen while jogging Wednesday morning, injuring 25 people, five of them seriously, according to a local LAPD spokesman.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the car, which was heading in the wrong direction, surprised police officers during their morning run by hitting them hard, and the driver didn’t slow down, leaving a scene “like a plane crash.”
“Many bodies with various injuries were scattered all over the place, which became a shocking scene for everyone involved,” he added at a press conference. He indicated that among the wounded were “amputated limbs” and that one of them had been put on artificial respiration.
Video taken from the scene shows a black SUV parked on the pavement with front end damage. According to the Los Angeles Times, citing rescuers, at the time of the accident, his driver was driving in the opposite direction.
For his part, Villanueva said some officers saw the 22-year-old driver of the car speeding up, indicating that the latter was not drunk and was stopped at the scene. For its part, the Los Angeles Times, citing security sources, said the driver told investigators he “fell asleep” at the wheel. He underwent tests to find out if he was under the influence of drugs. The group consisted mainly of two trained policemen.