Car Charges Crowded LA Beach, Kills 1

Police have suspect in custody in Venice Beach rampage
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 4, 2013 9:13 AM CDT
Car Charges Crowded LA Beach, Kills 1
Pedestrians gather as police and fire officials respond after a car drove through a packed afternoon crowd along the Venice Beach boardwalk in Los Angeles, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013.   (Maarten Smitskamp)

A rapidly accelerating car driven by a young man screeched across a sidewalk and straight into a crowd enjoying one of Southern California's most popular boardwalks, killing one person, injuring 11, and leaving the promenade in chaos as he sped out of sight. The victim died at a hospital a few hours after the crash last night at the Venice Beach boardwalk, an LAPD rep said. Security video shows the man parking his black car alongside the seaside boardwalk as the sun sank, surveying the idyllic scene for several minutes before getting back into the car and speeding into the crowd. It shows hundreds of people walking lazily or sitting at cafes before the black car suddenly appears and sends them scrambling wildly.

Witnesses reported a horrifying aftermath. "There (were) people kind of stumbling around, blood dripping down their legs looking confused, not knowing what had happened, people screaming," said one witness. "It was blocks and blocks of people just strewn across the sidewalk." The driver fled the scene and about an hour later, just as police were circulating word that they were seeking a black Dodge with a driver in his 20s, a man walked into a police station in neighboring Santa Monica and told officers he was involved in the boardwalk incident, said the police rep. Police are questioning the man, calling him a person of interest and attempting to determine whether he was the driver; they have found a car nearby that they believe belonged to him. (More Venice Beach stories.)

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