Police said a speeding driver struck two people who had just stepped out of a stopped car, then barreled into parked vehicles and a home.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA — Two pedestrians were killed and three other people suffered minor injuries early Sunday after a driver suspected of being drunk sped into a stopped car on a residential North Hollywood street, struck the two people who had just gotten out and then crashed into several parked vehicles and a house, police said.
The crash brought murder allegations, a multimillion-dollar bail amount and fresh questions about how a violent chain of impacts unfolded along a quiet block just after bars had closed and traffic had thinned. Los Angeles police said the driver, identified as Vidal Cruz Jr. of Pacoima, was arrested after the collision and later booked on two counts of murder. The two people who died had not been publicly identified by Sunday night, and investigators were still asking for witnesses and video.
Police said the crash happened about 2:25 a.m. on Colfax Avenue, just north of Calvert Street. According to investigators, an Acura heading northbound at what police described as an unsafe speed approached a Toyota Camry that had stopped along the street. Two people had just stepped out of the Camry when the Acura hit the stopped car and then struck both of them. The force of the collision sent the Acura farther up the block, where it crossed into a private driveway and smashed into multiple unoccupied parked vehicles before coming to rest near a home. One victim, described by police as a man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel. A second victim, a woman in her 50s, was taken to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries. The three people who remained inside the Camry were treated for minor injuries.
Authorities said Cruz was the only person inside the Acura. Police identified him as either 31 or 32 years old in separate media reports, but all outlets said he was from Pacoima and was taken to a hospital after the crash before being booked into Van Nuys Jail. Investigators said alcohol was suspected and that speed was a factor in the collision. By Sunday evening, police had booked him on suspicion of two counts of murder and set bail at $4 million. Officials had not publicly released additional details about any chemical test results, whether formal charges beyond the booking allegations had been filed, or whether Cruz had retained an attorney. The names of the two people who were killed also had not been released, a common step while authorities work to notify relatives. Police did not say why the Camry had stopped on the block or where the group had been headed before the crash.
The scene stretched beyond the initial impact point. Television video and witness accounts showed major damage to parked cars and to the front area of a house along the street, underscoring how far the Acura continued after hitting the pedestrians. Residents told local reporters the crash jolted them awake and sounded powerful enough to feel like an earthquake. One neighbor described looking outside and seeing the destruction in the yard and near the house after the car came off the street. Another resident said someone had been sleeping on the other side of a wall that was damaged when the car slammed through the property line area. Police said the parked vehicles hit after the initial collision were unoccupied, a detail that likely prevented an even higher toll. Even so, the crash turned a normally quiet residential corridor into a large emergency scene marked by police tape, investigators and a white coroner’s tent.
Under California law, drivers in fatal drunken-driving cases can face murder allegations in some circumstances, not just vehicular manslaughter, if prosecutors believe the facts support that higher charge. Police on Sunday said Cruz had been booked on two counts of murder, but booking information is an early procedural step and does not by itself answer every legal question in the case. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office would decide what charges, if any, are formally filed in court. As of Sunday night, media reports said jail records did not list an initial court date. Investigators from the LAPD Valley Traffic Division were expected to continue reconstructing the crash, reviewing surveillance footage from homes and nearby cameras, documenting damage patterns on the vehicles and roadway and interviewing witnesses who saw either the impact or the Acura’s movements before it stopped. The department publicly asked anyone with information to come forward, a sign that detectives believe more evidence may still be available.
The crash also added to a familiar pattern in Los Angeles, where late-night speeding and impaired-driving investigations often collide with dense residential streets lined with parked cars. In this case, the geography mattered. Colfax Avenue runs through a neighborhood where homes sit close to the street, driveways open directly onto the roadway and a fast-moving car can travel only a short distance before hitting parked vehicles, fences or houses. That made the chain of damage visible in a compact area: the stopped Camry, the two pedestrians, the parked cars and the damaged home all became part of a single crime scene. The three survivors inside the Camry escaped with minor injuries, but their accounts may become central to explaining the seconds before impact, including how long the car had been stopped and whether there was any warning before the Acura arrived. For the victims’ families, the next steps are likely to move slowly, beginning with identification, notification and the formal court process.
By Sunday night, the immediate facts were clearer than the broader unanswered questions. Police say the sequence began with a speeding Acura and ended with two deaths, three minor injuries and severe property damage on a North Hollywood block. What remains unknown is the full evidence behind the DUI allegation, the reason the Camry had stopped there, and whether prosecutors will keep the case at two murder counts or reshape it as the investigation develops. For neighbors, the memory was already fixed by the violence of the sound and the sight of wrecked cars against a home. For investigators, the next milestone is the filing decision and the first court appearance, once one is scheduled.
Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.