LOS ANGELES, CA — A man who police say drove an SUV into pedestrians and street vendors outside the North Hollywood Metro station has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after the crash killed three women and injured two other people.
The violent collision happened just before 6 p.m. Tuesday near North Lankershim Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard. Los Angeles police identified the driver as 61-year-old Ihor Demianenko. Officers said the white SUV was traveling southbound on Lankershim when it struck people in the area.
Three women were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they were 40, 53 and 69 years old. Their names have not yet been released. The two injured victims were hospitalized Wednesday with unspecified injuries.
Witnesses describe chaos as pedestrians and vendors were struck near the station
People who saw the crash said the aftermath unfolded in seconds and left the sidewalk covered with debris and emergency crews. Aerial footage showed a large debris field and multiple fire trucks near the station as investigators and first responders secured the area.
Witness video captured people screaming for help while bodies lay motionless on the sidewalk. Metro passengers were still emerging from underground into the scene as bystanders called 911. The crash happened in a busy public space where commuters, vendors and pedestrians were gathered.
Gian Barbarona told ABC7 that he missed the vehicle by inches. He said he initially thought the car had gone into the station because of how severe the scene looked.
Police say the driver was conscious, in shock and later booked in critical condition
LAPD said Demianenko had to be extricated from the SUV after the crash. Officers said he was conscious but appeared to be in shock when they reached him. He was hospitalized in critical condition before being arrested on suspicion of felony DUI.
Police said he is being held on more than $6 million bail. Investigators have not released details about what led up to the collision, and authorities have not said whether speed, impairment beyond the DUI allegation, or any mechanical problem played a role.
Chief Jim McDonnell said investigators have video from the scene and will review it frame by frame to help determine what happened.
Beloved food vendors were among those killed outside the North Hollywood station
Witnesses told ABC7 that at least two of the people killed were food vendors who had worked outside the Metro station for years. One man, Noe Orozco, said he arrived at the scene and found a colleague dead on the sidewalk.
Orozco said he routinely helped transport the vendors, dropping them off in the morning and picking them up later. He described the victim as a beloved coworker and said the scene left him in tears.
The crash struck a place that many in the area knew well, not only as a transit stop but also as a regular gathering point for vendors serving commuters. That connection added to the shock for people who knew the victims personally.
Mayor Karen Bass and LAPD leaders responded as the investigation continued
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on social media that an SUV drove onto a sidewalk near the North Hollywood Metro station and struck a group of street vendors and pedestrians. She said preliminary reports showed three people had died and others were injured, and she said her office was coordinating with city departments.
Bass said she was heartbroken for the families affected by the crash. LAPD said first responders remained on the scene while authorities worked to determine what caused the incident.
The crash drew top police leadership to the area, reflecting the scale of the tragedy and the number of people hurt in a dense urban corridor. As of Wednesday, investigators had not said how the SUV came to mount the sidewalk.
The deadly collision left questions about the moments before impact
Officials have released only limited information about the minutes before the SUV hit the pedestrians. Police confirmed the collision happened near the Metro station, but they have not provided a full account of the path the vehicle took or what Demianenko was doing just before the crash.
The investigation remains active, and detectives are still piecing together the sequence of events from witness statements, video and physical evidence at the scene. For now, police say the most serious criminal allegation is felony DUI, while the full cause of the crash has not been publicly established.
What is known is that a busy evening in North Hollywood ended with three dead, two injured and a neighborhood left to absorb the loss outside a station many people pass through every day.
