Man Who Drove Car Off 3rd Floor Of Parking Structure Says He Mistakenly Accelerated

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA) - The driver of a vehicle that crashed through the third floor of a parking structure and plunged to the street in North Hollywood says he mistakenly accelerated instead of stepping on the brake.

The crash happened about 11 p.m. Thursday in the 5400 block of Tujunga Avenue, where police say the driver was trapped in the vehicle until freed by Los Angeles
firefighters.

According to police at the scene, the driver claimed he stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, which caused the vehicle - reported to be a Mercedes SUV - to accelerate and burst through the side of the structure and land on its roof.

The unidentified driver remained hospitalized with a skull fracture, police said Friday.

Video from the scene showed the SUV a gaping hole in the parking facility and the SUV upside down on Tujunga Avenue.

"I felt the building shake," said one eyewitness.