Suspected Drunk Driver Plows Into Christmas Crowd, 11 Hurt

A man with a revoked driver’s license stemming from a DUI conviction was in jail today in an alleged drunken driving crash, injuring 11 people in an Alhambra neighborhood where they were looking at Christmas lights.

A dozen people were injured, one of whom was hospitalized in critical condition today, police said.

The accident in the 400 block of South Fremont Avenue was reported at 8:37 p.m. Sunday, Alhambra police Lt. Garrett Kennedy said.

Ismael Soto, 28, of Los Angeles, allegedly rear-ended two minivans, knocking one into a crowd of people. Soto suffered a minor injury and was booked on suspicion of felony drunken driving, Alhambra police Sgt. Jerry Johnson said. Soto’s license was revoked, and he is on probation for a 2013 DUI conviction, Johnson said.

Soto was held on $130,000 bail, and was scheduled to appear in court in Alhambra on Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s department.

Eleven people were transported to hospitals from the scene, including four firefighters said were in critical condition, Kennedy said.

This afternoon, only one person’s condition was listed as critical, a 27- year-old woman hospitalized with a head injury, Johnson said. The injured ranged in age from 7-61, police said.

Two people were temporarily trapped in a vehicle and freed by firefighters using a Jaws of Life tool, Alhambra firefighters said.

The suspect’s red pickup truck was northbound on Fremont when “at some point it crosses over the double yellow line and strikes two occupied mini-vans parked on the southbound side of the street,” Kennedy said. “One mini-van jumped on the curb and in the driveway of one residence and that’s what hit the pedestrians.”

Five ambulances responded to the scene, including two from Alhambra and one each from South Pasadena, San Gabriel and Monterey Park, firefighters said. Three engine companies and a ladder truck also responded, he said.

• City News Service