The suspect in the crash that killed three women and critically injured two others outside Metro’s North Hollywood station was formally charged with three counts of murder Friday.
Ihor Demianenko, 61, of Valley Village, was charged Friday in connection with the Tuesday crash that killed three street vendors, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Demianenko was booked Wednesday on suspicion of homicide after he drove a white minivan into a crowd of street vendors and pedestrians. He was being held at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown Los Angeles in lieu of $6.03 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said Demianenko was unable to appear in court Friday because of his medical condition — he was also injured in the crash — but was expected to be arraigned Monday at the Van Nuys courthouse.
Demianenko was driving a Toyota Sienna just before 6 p.m. Tuesday south on Lankershim Boulevard, south of Chandler Boulevard, “at an unsafe speed when it veered to the right, ran off the road and collided with a tri-light, hitting several pedestrians and food vendors who were on the sidewalk near the Metro station,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“The force of the collision caused the pedestrians and private property to be thrown in different directions,” according to an LAPD statement. “The Toyota driver remained trapped inside his vehicle until paramedics and police arrived.”
Rescuers found three women who were beyond medical assistance and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Demianenko was talking when freed from the vehicle and appeared to be in shock before he was taken to a hospital, according to police.
An LAPD spokeswoman initially told City News Service Demianenko was arrested on suspicion of DUI after he was taken to Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
Demianenko was found to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police said.
Multiple media reports indicated the vehicle jumped barriers that were in place to protect the pedestrians and street vendors who regularly gather on the sidewalk on the westbound side of the street.
“Our investigators have the video,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters at the scene of the crash Tuesday night. “They’ll run it down in slow motion and take it frame-by-frame to determine what happened.”
The intersection was closed for hours but re-opened Wednesday morning.
Two of three who were killed were later identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner as Maria Peck, 73, and Teodora “Doris” Villalobos, 57.
A vigil was held Wednesday night at the scene of the crash, with Villalobos’ daughter among those in attendance.
“There are no words to express the absence that she’s gonna have over my life,” Melissa Villalobos said. “… Everything that I do is gonna be for her. Everything that I achieve will be for her, because of every sacrifice that she has (made) for me.”
Villalobos said her mother, a longtime street vendor, would give food and water to those who could not afford it.
Two women believed to be in their 50s were rushed to a hospital, according to the LAPD.
One of those women was identified in a GoFundMe page established by her sister-in-law as Sylvia Figueroa.
“She’s in critical condition,” sister-in-law Eliza Begay wrote of Figueroa. “She has fractured ribs, and she had surgery last night.”
The GoFundMe page is at www.gofundme.com/f/for-my-husband-sister-sylvia-figueroa-was-hit-by-a-car.
Kassandra Guzman told the Los Angeles Times she was sitting at her family’s smash burger stand across Lankershim when she saw the vehicle barreling down Lankershim and drive straight through the blue tarp where a number of food vendors usually set up.
The 12-year-old told The Times the vendors sell coffee, tamales, hot dogs and pastries. She said the people who were injured have been working there for years.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t my family, but it still hurts,” she said.
City Councilman Adrin Nazarian and the nonprofit organization Initiating Change in Our Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation established a GoFundMe page to raise money for the victims.
“The North Hollywood community has been deeply shaken by the tragic vehicle crash near the Metro subway station that claimed the lives of three sidewalk vendors and injured others,” the page states. “Behind each victim is a family now facing unimaginable grief, uncertainty, and financial hardship.
“Contributions will help ease immediate financial hardships and other urgent family needs.”
Nazarian urged support for the victims’ families as they cope with the aftermath of the crash.
“What happened outside the North Hollywood Metro station is horrific,” said Nazarian. “These families had their lives changed forever in an instant, and my thoughts are with them and with our entire vendor community. While this fund won’t bring the victims back, it will go a long way to support the financial burden on the victims’ families.”
The page had raised more than $42,492 as of early Friday morning.
The fundraiser is at gofundme.com/f/noho-metro-station-victims-relief-fund.
Firefighters and paramedics responded at 5:55 p.m. Tuesday to the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards regarding reports of a crash, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz.
Anyone with information about the crash was urged to call LAPD Valley Traffic Division Detective Reyes at 818-644-8114 or Officer Lozon at 818- 644-8117.
Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call CrimeStoppers at 800-222-TIPS.