1 Dead, 6 Hurt After SUV Crashes Into Crowd At Buena Park Ice Cream Shop
BUENA PARK (CBS/AP) — One person was killed and six others were hurt Friday after an SUV slammed into a group of people outside an ice cream shop in Buena Park.
The incident was reported shortly after 6 p.m. at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, located in the 8600 block of Beach Boulevard.
An 81-year-old driver slammed his vehicle through a gate, which hit seven customers, including children.
"My son said, 'Look, look!' And we turned around and we saw that gray car kept going. It looked like the guy kept his foot on the gas pedal instead of the brake. He crushed…there was three people sitting on the bench. It went straight into them and crushed them," Daniel Long said.
"You could see from the inside that they were pushed up against the window with their heads back. It was really bad," a woman said.
"Witnesses have only indicated that he accelerated forward instead of backing out," Buena Park police Officer Bill Kohanek said.
A 73-year-old woman was critically injured and died at a hospital. The victim has been identified as Marisa Malin of Cerritos.
Two people had moderate injuries, three had minor injuries and one person was evaluated and released, according to fire officials.
KCAL9's Stacey Butler reported that the driver was being questioned. Police said he appeared to be disoriented.
"He walked around like he was in a daze, like he didn't even know what happened," Long said.
Mike Fleming, the CEO of Farrell's, said they've tried their best to prevent accidents.
"We've done our best to cordon off things with the rails and things like that, but when you have a 6,000 pound car, it's hard to stop," he said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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