Police say a driver they suspect was under the influence plowed an SUV into street vendors and commuters outside a busy Los Angeles train station, killing three women.
Story Highlights
- Three women, ages 40, 53 and 69, died at the scene outside the North Hollywood Metro station.
- The driver, Ihor Demianenko, 61, was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and is held on more than $6 million bail.
- Two more women, both in their 50s, were taken to a hospital.
- Police say they have video of the crash and will study it frame by frame.
Deadly Crash Outside A Busy Train Station
Shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, a white SUV heading south on Lankershim Boulevard left the road near Chandler Boulevard in North Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. It broke through barriers meant to protect people on the sidewalk, according to reports, and slammed into a blue tarp canopy where vendors sold coffee, tamales, hot dogs and pastries. Some reports describe the vehicle as a minivan. Three women were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence, often called DUI, which means driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Police have not said what substance they suspect, and they have not released a full account of what caused the crash.
The crash hit at rush hour, steps from the entrance to the North Hollywood station on Metro’s B Line, the city’s subway line. Witnesses told reporters that at least two of the women who died were food vendors who had worked outside the station for years.
Who The Driver Is And What He Faces
Police identified the driver as Ihor Demianenko, 61. Rescuers had to pull him from the vehicle. A police captain said he was talking but appeared to be in shock. He was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where officers arrested him at 9:10 p.m. Tuesday.
He was booked into the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Jail in Van Nuys at 1:39 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11, on suspicion of felony DUI, according to reports. His bail was set at $6,030,000. Demianenko is accused, not convicted. Prosecutors had not filed formal charges as of Wednesday, and no court date has been announced.
What Police And Witnesses Saw
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said investigators have video of the crash. He said they will slow it down and go through it frame by frame to learn exactly what happened. He called it a “prolonged but very deliberate investigation.”
Police gave the victims’ ages as 40, 53 and 69. Their names have not been released while relatives are told. Two other women in their 50s were taken to a hospital, according to reports.
One man said the SUV missed him by inches. He told reporters he “felt the wind of the whoosh” on his left shoulder. A worker at a nearby burger stand said he heard a loud boom and saw people on the ground. He said he knelt by a bleeding woman near the bike racks and told her, “don’t move, help is coming.” A man who drove the vendors to and from work each day said he had arrived to pick them up when he saw a friend lying on the sidewalk.
A Neighborhood In Mourning
Mayor Karen Bass said she was “heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted.” City Council member Adrin Nazarian called the area very close-knit. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she was “stunned by the tragic loss of life in North Hollywood” and said officials need to learn exactly what led to it.
The intersection stayed closed for hours and reopened Wednesday morning. Crashes like this one fit a sad national pattern. In 2024, 7,080 people on foot were killed by vehicles across the country, and most pedestrian deaths happen in cities, according to federal safety data. For the families in North Hollywood, the loss is three women who came to work at the same corner every day.
Sources:
latimes.com, apnews.com, ktla.com, abc7.com, cbsnews.com, upi.com, nhtsa.gov
