Driver accused of ramming into crowd outside LA nightclub charged with 37 counts of attempted murder

LOS ANGELES AP Los Angeles prosecutors released felony charges Tuesday in connection with a car crash outside a nightclub over the weekend that injured at least people and led to the driver being shot Fernando Ramirez was charged with counts of attempted murder and counts of assault with a deadly weapon against the driver If convicted such charges could lead to a maximum life sentence Partygoers were leaving the Vermont Hollywood venue at the end of a reggae hip-hop event early Saturday when a conveyance rammed into the crowd along a busy boulevard in East Hollywood The car came to a stop after colliding with several food carts which became lodged underneath the car and bystanders attacked the driver according to police Injuries ranged from minor to serious fractures and lacerations and various people were briefly trapped beneath the bicycle We understand that this brazen act has shaken the group and but for the good grace of God this could have been a mass casualty event LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman noted He added that eight people suffered great bodily injury Among those injured people were transported to hospitals explained Ronnie Villanueva Interim Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department When he drove that car onto that sidewalk he aimed it at a whole sea of pedestrians that were in front of him on the sidewalk at a m Hochman explained Ramirez is accused of intentionally driving his car onto the sidewalk A phone number for Ramirez could not be determined in an online database search and the community defender s office has not responded to requests for comment on whether one of its attorneys is representing him This was an unprovoked act of violence that injured people specific critically Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell noted It s truly a miracle that no one was killed that day Ramirez was later ascertained to have been shot in the lower back but administration have not identified the suspected gunman Los Angeles police published surveillance photos Monday from cameras near the crash showing a man with a goatee wearing a blue Dodgers jacket and a light blue jersey with the number Ramirez has a criminal history that includes a battery and gang-related charge in an aggravated battery conviction for a attack on a Black man at a Whole Foods grocery store in Laguna Beach California and a domestic violence charge in records show Ramirez has proved to be violent to strangers and family alike and clearly has a lack of concern for the safety of others Orange County prosecutors revealed in a court filing for the attack A drunken driving matter and domestic violence charge were pending at the time of the nightclub crash according to records