Los Angeles, Ca
Man recalls being ejected from moving RV on Southern California freeway
A man recalls the terrifying moment he was ejected from a moving RV as it was driving on a busy freeway in Newhall.
The incident, which was captured on dashcam video by a passing car, happened on Jan. 15 as the survivor, Cordell Patrick, was traveling on the northbound lanes of the 14 Freeway just south of Newhall Avenue.
Patrick, a former ESPN sportscaster, was on his way home to Valencia when his wife, who was driving, had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Right before she fell asleep, Patrick had stood up for just a moment to use the restroom.
“I had just unbuckled my seat belt. It was only unbuckled for five seconds,” Patrick recalled. “I noticed my wife had dozed off, so instead of going straight, we were headed toward the median. I tried grabbing the steering wheel, but before I could grab it we already had impact.”
In a matter of seconds, the motorhome, which was traveling around 60 miles per hour, collided with the center median. The violent impact threw Patrick out the driver’s side window.
Video shows his body flying over the center divider and onto the opposite lanes of the busy freeway. He was thrown about 170 feet across the roadway.
As Patrick landed on the ground near the median, he thought the terrifying moment would be his last before dying.
“All I’m thinking about is that I’m going to get hit by a car,” he said. “I’m on one of the busiest freeways in L.A. County so what was going through my mind was, ‘I’ll be dead shortly.’”
Dashcam video shows a white SUV quickly swerving out of the way to avoid running over Patrick as his body landed on the ground.
Severely injured but realizing he was still alive, Patrick’s only concern at that moment was moving to a safer spot.
“I just dragged myself and then I leaned up my back against the median until help could come and help came pretty quick,” he recalled.
Alf Smithey, a good Samaritan who spotted Patrick on the ground, immediately pulled over.
“I noticed the guy is laying in the road still,” Smithey recalled. “I was just trying to keep cars away from him. He was all the way there [conscious]. That was the shocking part. I asked him his name, I asked him all kinds of stuff and he was all the way there. He knew he broke his arm, he knew he broke his leg.”
When the fire department crews and paramedics arrived, Patrick was conscious and breathing. He was transported to the hospital where he is still recovering on Tuesday night.
Patrick suffered multiple broken bones, a dislocated shoulder, lacerations to his head, 17 stitches and has road rash covering around 60 percent of his body.
No other drivers, including Patrick’s wife, were injured during the crash. Their beagle, who was riding with them in the RV, was also unharmed. Their motorhome, however, was mostly destroyed.
Patrick said he’s thankful to be alive and is still in shock as to how he survived.
“It was divine intervention,” he said. “If you didn’t think there was a higher power before this, I’m a living witness and I’ve got a living testimony to tell.”
Los Angeles, Ca
Hospital needs help identifying man found unconscious in downtown Los Angeles
A hospital needs help identifying a male patient who was found injured and unconscious in downtown Los Angeles.
The man is believed to be in his 30s, according to the Los Angeles General Medical Center.
He was found injured on the ground on Omar Street and has been hospitalized since June 22.
He stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 176 pounds. He has brown eyes, dark brown hair and tattoos across his upper body.
He did not have any personal belongings to help staff identify him or contact loved ones. Workers did not disclose the nature of his injuries.
Anyone who recognizes the man is asked to call clinical social worker Cesar Robles at 323-409-6885.
The public can also call the L.A. General Medical Center’s Department of Social Work at 323-409-5253 or, after hours from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., call 323-409-6883. On weekends, call 323-409-5254.
Los Angeles, Ca
Clue may identify SUV in Long Beach hit-and-run that left woman injured
Police are asking the public for help Wednesday in identifying a hit-and-run driver who left a woman badly injured in Long Beach late last month. The May 24 crash occurred around 11 p.m. as the victim was crossing East 2nd Street, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Video provided by police showed a dark-colored […]
Los Angeles, Ca
‘What’s going on with our society?’ Elderly L.A. street vendor violently beaten
WARNING: Video footage contains graphic violence
A 62-year-old street vendor is recovering after a brutally violent attack by another woman in broad daylight as bystanders in downtown Los Angeles looked on.
The attack happened around 4 p.m. on June 15 in the 700 block of Figueroa Street, where Arabelia Martinez has sold hot dogs for years to support herself and her family.
Video of the incident, which has since circulated widely online, appears to show a woman confronting Martinez at her stand before spraying sauce across the vendor’s cart. Martinez responds by throwing what appears to be Tajín seasoning in the woman’s direction, and the confrontation quickly escalates.
The difficult-to-watch footage shows Martinez being shoved to the ground and struck multiple times as people look on. Some can be seen attempting to intervene, but the assault continues for roughly a minute before coming to an end.
“I was speechless,” Martinez’s son, Constantino Garcia, said after watching the video. “I couldn’t even see the whole thing.”
According to Garcia, the suspect approached his mother before the attack and attempted to intimidate her into giving her money.
“The lady came up to my mom trying to intimidate her and extort her for money, telling her she needed a permit to sell, which my mom does have,” Garcia told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
When Martinez refused, Garcia claims the woman became verbally abusive.
“After she didn’t get her way and tried to extort my mom, she said, ‘Go back to Mexico,’ and made some racist remarks,” he said. “She said some disgusting things to my mom.”
Garcia said his mother continues to suffer lingering effects from the attack.
“She keeps complaining about her head,” he said. “We need to go see a head specialist because her head doesn’t stop hurting. As you could see in the video, she got slammed to the ground.”
The video has also sparked outrage over the response from some witnesses who were nearby during the assault.
“What’s going on with our society?” Garcia said. “Are we getting desensitized to an elderly woman being beaten in broad daylight and being surrounded by people doing the bare minimum to help her? That was horrible for me to watch.”
Witness Sebastian Gutierrez said he arrived moments after the confrontation and saw Garcia’s attacker causing additional chaos in the area.
“The lady began to flip over the tables of vendors,” Gutierrez said, describing the woman as possibly unstable. “It definitely seemed like there were mental health issues or drugs involved, like we see with a lot of things here in downtown L.A.,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a battery investigation into the incident KTLA confirmed, though no suspect information or news of a potential arrest has been released.
Meanwhile, Martinez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with her recovery and raise awareness about the dangers street vendors face daily.
“I hope that my mom gets justice for what happened to her,” Garcia said. He added that he’s been encouraged by the public response to the video.
“I’m grateful people are sympathizing with my mom,” he said. “People are giving it the attention it deserves.”
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