SUV strikes North Hollywood food stand, killing three

An SUV struck people on a North Hollywood sidewalk during Tuesday evening rush hour, killing three and sending three others to hospitals, Los Angeles authorities said. The crash hit an area where street vendors had set up a food stand near a Metro transit stop.

The white SUV crashed at about 5:55 p.m. at Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, near a Metro station and bus stop, according to police and fire officials. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said everyone struck was on the sidewalk. Firefighters pronounced three people dead at the scene.

Officials said the people struck included pedestrians and vendors. Witnesses told CBS Los Angeles that the three people killed were street vendors. A witness told NBC Los Angeles that two women selling hot dogs were thrown into the air by the impact. Crews extricated one person from the wreckage, according to CBS News, citing the fire department.

The reports differed on the conditions of those hospitalized. The Los Angeles Fire Department said three people were taken to hospitals, NBC News reported, describing all three as critically injured. CBS News reported, also citing firefighters, that two of the three were in critical condition. Police told CBS News that the driver, a man in his 60s, was among those hospitalized and was in serious condition. The Guardian reported that the driver was in critical condition.

Aerial footage showed the damaged SUV on the sidewalk beside a transit structure, with debris scattered around it. CBS News reported that the vehicle stopped beneath a canopy where the food stand had been set up. NBC Los Angeles footage showed it against the side of the Metro station, which has stairs and escalators leading to the subway.

Investigators had not determined what caused the crash or how fast the SUV was traveling. LAPD Capt. Warner Castillo said drug-recognition experts were at the hospital to assess whether the driver was impaired. “I don’t know what type of emergences he had,” Castillo said. Police said they were seeking security camera footage from the transit stop and would interview witnesses. Despite witness accounts suggesting otherwise, investigators did not believe a second vehicle was involved, CBS News reported.

“It’ll be probably a prolonged but very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here, and our hearts go out to the families of the victims that were struck here tonight,” McDonnell said.

Mayor Karen Bass said her office was coordinating with city departments and authorities as they worked to determine the cause. “I’m heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted,” she wrote on X. “We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.”