The Daily News reports that a crash in Canoga Park sheared a fire hydrant, causing flooding that damaged a store and injured victims. The crash happened at about 8:50 p.m. on West Sherman Way in Canoga Park.
The crash involved two cars, one of which was a Kia Optima. One of the vehicles wound up crashing into a fire hydrant, shearing it. Water shot into the air, where it began pooling on the roof of the WSS shoe store.
The weight of the water caused the roof to collapse. Nine people were injured, one of whom had been inside the store when the roof caved in. The interior of the store was also damaged. The Department of Building and Safety tagged the building as uninhabitable.
Four of those injured suffered from potentially life-threatening injuries. One report indicated that children were among the injured.
A woman that was driving the Kia Optima was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
While many DUI offenders are caught before they can be involved in an accident, many do end up in crashes. Under California law, victims of a DUI accident can seek restitution through several different channels. A DUI driver may be ordered to pay a fine into a restitution fund, which helps compensate all victims of crimes in California. They may be ordered by a judge or jury to pay restitution as a part of criminal sentencing. The driver may also be sued in a civil lawsuit to compensate for the damages caused in the DUI accident. DUI fines are often bad enough, but restitution amounts can easily go into tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
