An SUV driven by an elderly motorist slammed into a small group of people waiting outside a Los Angeles-area ice cream parlor Friday evening, killing a 73-year-old woman and injuring six others, authorities said.
According to the Associated Press, the SUV surged forward from a parking space and rammed into people outside Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour shortly after 6 p.m., Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.
The restaurant is in Buena Park, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
People sitting and standing between the vehicle and the restaurant were ran over when the SUV lurched forward, hit a small fence and crashed into them, witnesses said.
"It looked like the guy put his foot on the gas pedal instead of the brake," Daniel Long, who was eating with his family inside, told KCAL-TV. "There were three people sitting on that bench - he just went straight into them and crushed them up against the window."
"Television news reports showed a silver Suzuki XL7 halfway in a parking space in front of the building, with its front end shoved over the fence onto a walkway," the AP reported.
A woman, 73, was critically injured and died at a hospital, authorities said.
While two people were hospitalized with moderate injuries, three suffered from minor injuries and a sixth person was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Concialdi said.
One of the injured victims was female, police Cpl. Andy Luong said.
The SUV passengers, a male and a female, were both elderly, Luong said. They did not sustain any injuries.
The driver, who has not been cited, cooperated with the police while being questioned, Luong said.
The cause of the crash is being investigated.
Farrell's is a chain of restaurants with decorations designed to recall century-old ice cream parlors. Servers dress in "pin-striped vests, old fashioned ties, and cane hats," according to its website, the AP reported.
