HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Four people were seriously injured, including a woman whose legs were amputated and is in a coma, after an SUV crashed into them as they sat outside of a popular restaurant in Hollywood.
Rosemary Villaram is one of the three people who were badly hurt when the SUV crashed into them as they were eating at The Bang Shack in Hollywood on Tuesday night.
Villaram says the victim who is currently in a coma is her good friend. She told Local 10 News in tears that her friend was pinned between the SUV and a palm tree, and is now in a coma, and lost both of her legs.
“My friend, she don’t even know. She don’t even know that she lost her legs,” she said. “She was under, under the car, and I was trying to stand up to help her, but I couldn’t.”
“She didn’t even move,” she added. “I thought she was dying.”
According to Hollywood Police, the driver of the vehicle was driving through the ally and turned onto 20th Avenue where a fire truck was parked.
“It tried to turn to avoid the fire truck, and it overcompensated, and ran up on the curb, and that’s when it struck the table,” said an officer.
Neighbors say first responders that were inside of the fire truck immediately began treating the victims.
The driver of the SUV stayed on the scene.
“Lady in the SUV got out, you know, holding her head,” said a witness.
The area outside of The Bang Shack, where many of the victims were seated, holds a permit to allow outdoor seating.
The City of Hollywood initially stated that the restaurant was not permitted to have outdoor seating. However, the city says its treasury department issued the permit prematurely, before it was signed off on by its engineers.
Now, victims told Local 10 News they want to see the driver held responsible for what happened.
“That girl needs to be arrested,” said one of the victims. “Has to.”