Driver arrested for allegedly plowing into crowd at South LA street carnival in Porsche Cayenne

Video shows people running to safety as sirens went off.

KABC logo
Monday, November 14, 2022
Driver arrested for allegedly plowing into South LA crowd
A 23-year-old driver of a Porsche Cayenne has been arrested for allegedly plowing through a street carnival in South Los Angeles, injuring at least six people.

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A 23-year-old driver has been arrested for allegedly plowing through a street carnival in South Los Angeles, injuring at least six people.

Steven Weems, 23, was arrested for felony hit and run and was being held on $50,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police say Weems is the driver who crashed through the carnival Saturday night on South Trinity Street while driving a white Porsche Cayenne.

Officers had tried to pull over the driver of the vehicle but he refused to stop, eventually plowing through a cement rail and into the carnival on the street.

Six people, believed to be between ages 30 and 50, were rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

"It looks like he tried to get out of the fair, but because of the barricades, he was unable to get out of the fair so he continued westbound MLK, continuing through the crowd of people, which we estimate was between a thousand to 2,000 people," said Sgt. Robert Leary with LAPD.

6 people injured after driver crashes through street carnival in South Los Angeles, police say

Given how busy the street fair was, Leary said the outcome could've been much worse.

"It is a blessing that no one actually got severely injured," he said. "I think that they heard the car, I'm not sure if he was honking, obviously people were screaming. It was quite hectic, so I think people saw this car coming in and thankfully they got out of the way in time."

Officers found the vehicle a few blocks away and detained Weems.

Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.