SUV Driven by Ihor Demianenko Strikes Street Vendors Near North Hollywood Metro Station

Three people died and three others sustained critical injuries on a Tuesday when an SUV struck street vendors and pedestrians near a Metro station in North Hollywood.

The collision occurred at approximately 5:55 p.m. in the 5300 block of North Lankershim Boulevard, near Chandler Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. ABC7 Los Angeles reported that the white SUV was traveling southbound before it drove onto a sidewalk and struck victims near a Metro station.

Los Angeles police identified the driver as 61-year-old Ihor Demianenko of Valley Village, CBS News reported. Investigators said that Demianenko was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash and was attempting to avoid another vehicle driving legally and safely.

Paramedics pronounced three victims dead at the scene, all women between the ages of 40 and 60. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified two of the deceased as 57-year-old Teodora Villalobos and 73-year-old Maria Peck, while the third victim remained unidentified by age range alone in police records.

Witnesses told CBS Los Angeles that the victims operated local food stands, with one vendor working outside the station for more than 15 years. First responders transported three additional women, aged 50 to 55, to local hospitals in critical condition.

Firefighters extricated Demianenko from the wreckage of the white SUV. He was hospitalized in serious condition and subsequently arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder, held on bail exceeding $6 million.

Emergency personnel closed the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards for hours as the LAPD Major Collision Investigation Team and Valley Traffic Division processed a large debris field. Police chief Jim McDonnell was present at the scene and said that investigators would review surveillance footage from the Metro station and nearby businesses.

“It’ll be a prolonged but a very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here,” Jim McDonnell, Los Angeles Police Department Chief, told CBS Los Angeles.

Mayor Karen Bass released a statement addressing the tragedy involving the pedestrians and street vendors.

“Today, an SUV drove onto a sidewalk near the North Hollywood Metro Station, striking a group of street vendors and pedestrians. Tragically, preliminary reports indicate that three people have lost their lives and others have been injured,” Karen Bass, Los Angeles Mayor, said on social media.

Authorities advised motorists to use alternate routes while detectives continue looking for security camera footage to reconstruct the exact sequence of events leading up to the impact.