Driver Arrested After Plowing Through Mid-City Restaurant Patio Crowd

The driver of a white van was arrested at the scene of a terrible crash yesterday afternoon outside The Fish Spot, a corner restaurant on Pico Boulevard in Mid-City, after allegedly plowing through a crowd of diners gathered on the sidewalk. Nine people were transported to the hospital in varying conditions.

The popular Fish Spot sits just next to Jamaican favorite Wi Jammin Caribbean Restaurant and offers mostly sidewalk seating. The low fence surrounding the tables was no match, though, for a white late-model Ford van that reportedly blew through the red light and clipped a car before careening into a gathered dinner crowd.

ABC7 reports that nine people, ranging in age from a 16-year-old cashier at The Fish Spot to two 51-year-old men, were injured, with eight transported to the hospital in mostly stable or serious condition. One 44-year-old man was listed in critical condition.

Yelp

According to witnesses, the unnamed driver of the van attempted to flee the scene but was grabbed by passersby, and has since been arrested on felony hit-and-run charges. The police stressed that neither terrorism or alcohol is believed to have played a role in the incident. The Associated Press has more images of the cleanup efforts over on News10.

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