Owner, Patrons Of Donut Shop Question Whether Deadly Car Crash Was An Accident

CANOGA PARK (CBSLA.com) — Detectives are investigating what caused a driver to plow into a donut shop, killing one man and injuring three people Saturday night.

Officers were called to Jolly Donut located at the intersection of De Soto Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. Saturday after getting reports that a car rammed into the building, according to the LAPD.

Five victims were taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Officials said they are expected to make a full recovery.

Security video from the store shows the driver plowing through building, dragging and pushing everything in its path. Six customers reportedly were inside at the time of the crash.

An addition victim, described as a 35- to 45-year-old Asian man, was pronounced dead on arrival.

Authorities have not identified the person killed, but shop owner Sivlai Chung said the victim was a transient and a "very nice man."

"He's a regular. He comes in every night to get a small coffee and recharge his phone," Chung said.

Witnesses said he was pushed from one side of the store to the other as the car drove through the shop.

HazMat teams were seen cleaning the area Sunday morning while employees finished boarding up the windows of the shop.

"It looks like a bomb went off," said Chung, who's owned the donut shop for 10 years and hopes to reopen soon.

It was an extremely close call for Bruce Bowman, who was sitting alone at a table when the SUV practically grazed him. He came back from the hospital Sunday to survey the scene and spoke with CBS2/KCAL9's Joy Benedict.

"I knew what was happening," Bowman said. "A car came through here. Why? How? For what reason? Why am I here? Why did other people get hurt and not me? I don't know."

He said he's thankful to be alive: "This is it. We don't know if we'll be here tomorrow."

Police said the driver of the vehicle, 42-year-old Kristin Chang of Granada Hills, may have mistook the gas pedal for the brake in silver Jeep Liberty.

Chang was transported as a precaution, even though she sustained no physical injuries.

At this time, no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing as detectives are currently ruling the crash as an accident.

But others at the scene weren't convinced the crash wasn't intentional.

"I think she's nuts, that's what she is," Chung said.

Bowman said, "I hope she loses her drivers license for the rest of her life."

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1 Killed, 4 Critically Injured After Vehicle Drives Through Canoga Park Donut Shop