Octogenarian Crashes Into Hollywood Restaurant, Injuring 3

HOLLYWOOD, CA — An 84-year-old driver crashed into a restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard Wednesday afternoon seriously injuring two people and forcing the evacuation of the restaurant, the shop next door and upstairs apartment units.

A man and a woman, both 27, were seriously injured in the crash and rushed to a trauma center. The man driving the car was also hospitalized in unknown condition, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The crash occurred just before 1 p.m. in the 4600 block of West Hollywood Boulevard near Sunset Boulevard.

The driver of a black Mercedes jumped the curb and crashed five-to-10-feet into the restaurant, according to Humphrey. It was unclear if the injured man and woman were patrons of the restaurant or pedestrians walking in front of the building when the crash occurred, said Humphrey.

"All remaining occupants of the two-story building that contains apartments above the restaurant, as well as a downstairs retail store, have been temporarily moved outdoors until the damaged structure can be formally assessed for structural integrity by an L.A. Department of Building & Safety Inspector," he said.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the driver to lose control of his vehicle. According to the LAPD, the driver failed to stop at a stop sign in the seconds leading up to the crash.

"There was no indication of impairment," LAPD Detective Campos said in a video from the crash site posted to the department's twitter account. "However, this is going to be a story where age might be a factor in why this collision occurred."

Hollywood Boulevard between Vermont Avenue and Rodney Drive was shut during the investigation, and drivers were being advised to avoid the area.