A suspected drunken driver was in custody Wednesday following a crash that injured at least three people outside a famed Sunset Strip nightclub in West Hollywood.
Deputies responded just before midnight to the Whisky a Go Go at 8901 Sunset Blvd., and found the four victims, all of whom suffered minor injuries, according to Lt. Hector Mancinas of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Two of the injured were transported to a hospital, he said.
Shane Hunter, who suffered a leg injury, came back to the Sunset Strip nightclub after he was released from the hospital to check out the damage. He said he saw the driver coming off of San Vicente Boulevard at high speed.
"He was going way too fast," Hunter said. "They ended up coming onto the sidewalk. It was like 'Death Race 3000.' They were going to mow us down."
Security camera video showed the car jump the curb and crash into a metal pole that holds up the awning outside the club's entrance. A crowd can be seen scrambling to avoid the Volkswagen sedan.
"All of a sudden I just saw people running and I was able to slip back inside," said witness Richard Wood. "This thing (the metal pole) was bent and it looked like this thing (the awning) was going to come down, but it didn't come down."
The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of DUI. The vehicle had a Lyft sticker, but its driver was not driving for the ride-share company at the time of the crash.
NBC4 received the following statement from Lyft: "Although this individual was not driving on the Lyft platform at the time of the incident, the safety of the community is our top priority. We have permanently removed this individual from the Lyft platform, and stand ready to assist in any law enforcement investigation."
