NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES () — A suspected drunk driver is in custody after two pedestrians were killed in a violent crash in North Hollywood overnight. The whole thing was captured on surveillance video.
Eyewitness News spoke to a neighbor who woke up to the chaos in his yard.
The suspected drunk driver crashed through three parked cars and slammed into a house, leaving a gaping hole in the structure while someone was sleeping on the other side of the wall.
Police say it all happened after the driver hit and killed two pedestrians just blocks away.
Surveillance video shows the driver slam into three cars and the gate of the home. The video shows just how fast and violent the impact was.
The driver was identified by the Los Angeles Police Department as 31-year-old Vidal Cruz Jr. of Pacoima.
Police say Cruz was speeding in a gray Acura, heading north on Colfax Avenue in North Hollywood around 2:25 a.m., when he slammed into a man and a woman who had just stepped out of a parked Toyota Camry.
The man, who was in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the woman, who was in her 50s, later died at the hospital, according to LAPD.
The driver kept going, crashing into the Camry, then careening down the street before slamming into several unoccupied parked vehicles and a home. Three people inside the parked Camry sustained minor injuries, police said.
Cruz was arrested and booked on two counts of murder, with bail set at $4 million, according to LAPD.
“Drivers are reminded not to DRINK AND DRIVE, have a designated driver. Drinking and driving combined with speed kills innocent lives and carries serious consequences,” LAPD wrote in a statement.
The people who live in the home told Eyewitness News it didn’t seem like the driver understood what happened.
“He wasn’t as scared or as shocked as he should’ve been. That’s what I noticed. He was just trying to get out of his car as if nothing happened, but two people passed away,” said Diego Roeas.
“It’s just crazy, like, I just got that car, and you would think that when you’re home, it’s the safest place you can have your stuff, but you never know when it’s your time, and when bad things can occur. It’s just crazy to me, and I’m still processing it,” said Walter Morales.
Neighbors say they’re now coming together, pushing the city to install speed bumps on Colfax Avenue, hoping to slow drivers down before something like this happens again.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Valley Traffic Division Officer Garibay at (818) 644-8032 or Detective Ramirez at (818) 644-8025.
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