Shocking video shows DUI suspect narrowly miss 2 people outside Downey school, slams into parked car
The Ring camera footage shows an SUV barreling toward a woman as she takes something out of the back seat of her sedan.
DOWNEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Dramatic surveillance video shows a DUI suspect narrowly missing two people before slamming into a car parked outside a Downey elementary school and ending up on a kindergarten playground.
The violent collision occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday near Gallatin Elementary School, at the intersection of Gallatin Road and Manzanar Avenue.
The Ring camera footage shows an SUV barreling toward a woman as she takes something out of the back seat of her sedan, which is parked along a sidewalk on Gallatin Road. The SUV hits the car and then plows through a fence, coming to a stop on the campus.
"I just heard this super loud noise and I thought, 'Oh, somebody obviously crashed," said Gaby Enciso, who lives across the street from the school. Her recently-installed surveillance camera recorded the incident. "And then I came out, and that's when I saw the SUV in the playground, the fence down, the car flipped over. Yeah, it was pretty crazy."
Enciso immediately called 911 and later showed the video to police investigators.
"I'm getting a lot of messages on the neighbor app. They're like, "it's a pure miracle" that "the SUV just passed right in front of her."
Witnesses said the woman apparently suffered minor injuries. Another adult was also standing near the car at the moment of impact and apparently was not seriously hurt.
Officer's bodycam video shows DUI suspect slamming into cars involved in previous crash in South LA
Firefighter-paramedics placed the driver of the SUV on a gurney and transported him from the scene in unknown condition. Identified only as a 33-year-old man from the Commerce area, he was later arrested on suspicion of DUI, police said.
Although children were on campus for an after-school program, no students or staff were injured.
"Our Facilities Department secured the site last night by installing a temporary fence line and they are also working quickly to repair the playground with a permanent fencing solution that will increase safety for all of our students and staff," the Downey Unified School District said in a statement.
"It's pretty quiet, but every now and then there's cars that travel pretty fast -- which they shouldn't, around the school area, especially at that time," said Carlos Acevedo.
Enciso said she was in shock but not surprised, "because, again, people just use this as like a racetrack or something."
