A woman drove an SUV through a service bay and into the reception area of a Mission Hills, California, car dealership on Aug. 9, killing one person and sending at least two others to a hospital with lesser injuries.
The crash occurred at a Toyota dealership in the 11000 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard at about 9:10 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
According to the fire department, an “elderly” woman drove the vehicle into the covered service bay driveway and crashed into a customer reception area within the dealership. It was unclear what caused her to crash through the business, although a police investigator at the scene said the driver mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
A 56-year-old woman described as a customer at the dealership was briefly trapped beneath the vehicle but was freed by bystanders, including a nurse who began performing CPR on the woman, who was not breathing and had no pulse, fire officials said. That woman was taken to a hospital in grave condition, but she later died, police said.
Two men who worked at the dealership were also injured, a 23-year-old man with an arm laceration and a 35-year-old man with head and foot injuries, according to the fire department. Their injuries were considered non-life threatening, but both were taken to a hospital in fair condition.
The woman who was driving the car was examined by paramedics but did not appear to be injured, and she declined to be taken to a hospital, fire officials said. She remained at the scene and was being interviewed by police.
It was unclear if she had been detained or arrested, although police at the scene indicated the crash appeared to be an accident.
The vehicle had handicap license plates.
