SUV crashes into Brentwood homeless camp and injures 3

Three people were injured early Thursday when an SUV was plowed into a Brentwood homeless camp next to Los Angeles National Veterans Park.

Just after midnight, a dark SUV drove through several tents and put down a fence along a sidewalk near San Vicente Boulevard and Mayfield Avenue.

The on-site video showed a black vehicle with a broken windshield and extensive damage. Metal bars on the nearby park fence were pushed inward. There was also a fallen tree near the vehicle that rested around several tents adorned with American flags that lined the sidewalk.

“Speed ​​could have been a factor,” said LAPD representative Lizeth Lomeli. The driver of the vehicle was not taken into custody, police said.

Three people were injured, including the driver, but no one was rushed to the hospital, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

Battalion chief Anthony Matthews said they were “lucky” in a taped interview, adding that there were “no significant injuries to any person”.

Reportedly among those injured was an undocumented Navy veteran.

John Schwartz told OnScene.TV that he was sleeping in his tent when suddenly a vehicle rolled over it.

“At first I didn’t know what happened,” said Schwartz. “I woke up and looked at the car and found that the car crashed into the tent.”

The SUV came to rest on several tents and other items and had to be lifted with special equipment to make sure no one was trapped underneath, Matthews said.

Veterans Affairs police officers responded to the crash, the video showed.