Two Injured in Boyle Heights Crash at Los 5 Puntos Restaurant

BOYLE HEIGHTS, CA — Two people were hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after a vehicle left the roadway and struck outdoor diners on the sidewalk outside Los 5 Puntos restaurant in Boyle Heights, the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The crash was reported at 3:18 p.m. near the intersection of Lorena Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue, according to LAPD. A 50-year-old woman suffered a broken leg and a 50-year-old man reported head pain; both were taken to a nearby hospital. Police did not disclose whether the two were pedestrians or occupants of one of the vehicles involved in the crash.

Surveillance footage reviewed by local news outlets showed the vehicle veering off the street and plowing into the restaurant’s outdoor seating area, knocking over tables, chairs and umbrellas. The restaurant’s owner said about five people were dining outside at the time and that a family of three was able to move out of the vehicle’s path. The restaurant’s front door was damaged, and an electrical box dislodged in the crash was later coned off.

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Boyle Heights Accident Witnesses

Joe Diaz, a nearby resident who witnessed the crash, said he ran to help and described applying tourniquets to a woman’s legs while others tried to keep her calm. Diaz identified the injured as a mother and daughter who had been eating outside, an account that differs from the ages and genders LAPD later confirmed for the two people taken to the hospital. ABC7 separately reported, citing Diaz, that a passerby was also hurt when a trash can was pushed into him during the crash; that injury was not reflected in LAPD’s confirmed count.

NBC Los Angeles reported that LAPD described the incident as a multi-vehicle crash involving three vehicles, while ABC7 did not specify a vehicle count. ABC7 also reported, citing neighbors, that the driver was taken into custody, while NBC Los Angeles reported that the cause of the crash remained unclear and did not mention an arrest. LAPD had not released additional details as of Wednesday morning, and the case remains under investigation.

Dangers of this Boyle Heights Intersection

Neighbors told ABC7 that the Lorena Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue intersection has a history of collisions. The Storefront Safety Council, a research group whose data has been reviewed by an arm of Lloyd’s of London, estimates that such crashes occur more than 100 times daily across the United States, injuring as many as 16,000 people and killing as many as 2,600 annually. Restaurants with outdoor seating near roadways are among the site types the group’s research identifies as higher-risk.

California Liability Considerations

California drivers owe a duty of reasonable care to other roadway users and pedestrians under Civil Code Section 1714. A driver who leaves the roadway and strikes people on a sidewalk may be found negligent under the state’s basic speed law, Vehicle Code Section 22350, or under the reckless driving statute, Vehicle Code Section 23103, depending on what investigators determine caused the crash. A traffic citation tied to the collision could also support a negligence per se claim under Evidence Code Section 669.

In Bigbee v. Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Co. (1983) 34 Cal.3d 49, the California Supreme Court held that a foreseeable risk of a vehicle crashing into a roadside structure could support liability against the party that positioned it, extending potential responsibility beyond the driver even where a third-party driver’s negligence was the immediate cause. A similar theory could extend to outdoor dining areas sited close to intersections with a documented crash history, particularly where no bollards or barriers separated diners from traffic.

If a defect in the roadway or intersection design contributed to the crash, injured parties may also have a claim against the public entity responsible for its maintenance under Government Code Section 835, which governs liability for a dangerous condition of public property. Claims against a government entity carry a far shorter deadline than claims against private defendants: injured parties generally have six months from the date of an incident to file a claim under Government Code Section 911.2, compared with the two-year statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1 that applies to standard personal injury claims.

Call J&Y Law Today

Responsibility in a crash like this one is not always limited to the driver; property owners and public entities can also bear liability depending on what investigators find. J&Y Law represents injured Californians in personal injury and wrongful death cases across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. The firm works on a contingency-fee basis, meaning clients pay nothing upfront and no fee unless a recovery is obtained. Anyone injured in a crash, including bystanders and restaurant patrons, may benefit from speaking with an attorney promptly given the shortened filing deadline that can apply when a government entity is involved.