Police suspect a driver was under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs Wednesday when she was involved in a five-vehicle crash in the Mid-City area that left her and four other people critically injured.
Firefighters freed two of the victims from the wreckage of the crash, which was reported at 5:56 p.m. in the 5800 block of Venice Boulevard, between Fairfax Avenue and Hauser Boulevard, Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
All five patients, three men and two women, were taken from the scene in ambulances, Stewart said.
One of the women, who is now suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs, was among the injured, said Lt. Andre Belotto of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Traffic Division.
She was in surgery tonight but could be booked in absentia, Belotto said.
The woman’s vehicle sideswiped one next to hers as both were westbound on Venice Boulevard, Belotto said.
Her vehicle then crossed the center divider and struck three eastbound vehicles, he said.