Simone WilsonUpdated after the jump with an investigation of the shooting and booking photos of the hit-and-run suspects.
West Hollywood had bigger problems than wealthy businessmen trying to land their noisy 'copters atop neighborhood hotels last night.
While the L.A. County Sheriff's Department was responding to a bar fight outside Whisky a Go Go, a rock 'n' roll staple of the ragerific Sunset Strip (even on a Monday night), a red SUV with the suspected brawlers inside plowed down multiple pedestrians and gassed off into the night.
According to the Weho Daily, “approximately six white males and one [Latino] male” were involved in the 11 p.m. fight…
… some of whom may have escaped in a different vehicle, “described as a Nissan Sentra with four while male adults and one female occupant.”
One person was severely beaten in the brawl. Witness Melissa Dean told KTLA: “We turned the corner here on Clark Street, and there's a guy laying on the ground all bloody. He had just gotten beaten up. He was barely breathing.”
Another two people were hospitalized after the hit-and-run, according to City News Service.
From Dean's account: “There were like 10, 15 of us standing there. Two of the pedestrians, people like me, just don't get out of the way in time. One barely gets hit. The other goes flying into a telephone [pole].”
The part we still don't really understand is the eventual capture of the red SUV a couple blocks west at Sunset Boulevard and Doheny Drive, when all suspects were ordered out of the vehicle and shots were fired from the deputies' end. Nobody was injured, but there was also no return fire or report of a gun.
Assault suspect #1: Jesus Gomez; Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department
The Sheriff's Department is still compiling the details of the shooting; we'll update when they're available.
Update: Here's the sheriff's reasoning for the gunfire:
The suspects fled westbound on Sunset Boulevard and a responding deputy initiated a vehicle pursuit. The driver stopped in the area of Sunset Boulevard and Doheny Drive. During the traffic stop the driver pointed a dark object at a deputy. Fearing for his safety, the deputy fired one round from his pistol. The suspect then surrendered and both occupants of the vehicle were arrested at this time. No suspects or deputies were injured as the result of the shooting.
The press release also describes the men in the SUV, both reportedly underage:
Assault suspect #2: Eduardo Gomez; Credit: L.A. County Sheriff's Department
The driver, Eduardo Gomez, male Hispanic, 20 years-old, was arrested for Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Driving Under the Influence Causing Injury. He was transported to West Hollywood Station where he is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. The passenger, Jesus Gomez, male Hispanic, 18 years-old was arrested for Assault with a Deadly Weapon. He was transported to West Hollywood Station where he is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.
The brawl victim and one pedestrian are still in the hospital in critical condition.
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
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