Los Angeles police arrest driver in crash that killed 3 women

Los Angeles police arrested driver Ihor Demianenko on suspicion of felony DUI and three murder counts. His minivan struck people outside the North Hollywood Metro station Tuesday evening, killing three women.

Demianenko, 61, lives in the Valley Village neighborhood, police said. The crash occurred just before 6 p.m. in rush-hour traffic near Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, leaving the minivan beneath a food vendor’s tent.

The Los Angeles Police Department said Demianenko was traveling south on Lankershim at an “unsafe speed” when he left the road and struck pedestrians and food vendors, ABC7 Los Angeles reported. Witnesses told the station that at least two of the women who died had sold food outside the station for years.

Police said the women, ages 40, 53 and 69, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not been released.

Two more women, aged between 50 and 55, were struck and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.

Officials could not immediately establish what caused the crash or whether Demianenko acted intentionally. “We don't know if this was done intentionally [or] if it was done by accident,” Los Angeles Police Capt. Warner Castillo said at a news conference. It was not immediately clear whether Demianenko had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.

Emergency responders had to extricate Demianenko from the minivan. Castillo said Demianenko could speak and was conscious, though he appeared to be in shock. Police Officer Norma Eisenman did not know early Wednesday whether he remained hospitalized.

Police said Demianenko was being held on more than $6 million bail. Jail records cited by the New York Post listed him at the LAPD Valley Jail in Van Nuys, with bail at $6.03 million.

Luis Luna-Guzman was working at a nearby burger stand when he heard a loud boom, he told The Associated Press. He then saw people on the ground, with food and cups scattered around them. Near the bike racks, he said, an injured woman lay bleeding from her face, arms and legs.

“I told her, 'Don't move, help is coming,'” Luna-Guzman said. He said he also saw the body of a woman nearby and a second woman who was motionless on the station stairs.

Noe Orozco, who drove vendors to and from the area each day, told ABC7 he arrived as usual and found a colleague dead on the sidewalk. Another man who regularly visited the area told the station everyone knew the women and described them as the nicest ladies ever.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on social media that her office was working with city departments as authorities sought the cause. “I'm heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted,” Bass said.

One station entrance was still closed Tuesday night, but the bus and subway stations remained open, said Jose Ubaldo, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell visited the scene Tuesday and said investigators had video of the crash. “They'll run it down and slow motion it and take it frame-by-frame to determine what happened,” McDonnell said.

“It will be probably a prolonged but a very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here,” he said.