1 dead, 6 hurt as car hits line outside California ice cream shop
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
An SUV driven by an elderly motorist plowed into a group of people waiting to enter an Orange County ice cream parlor Friday evening, killing a 60-year-old woman and injuring six others, authorities said.
The SUV rammed into people outside Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour shortly after 6 p.m., Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said. The restaurant in is Buena Park, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Witnesses said the SUV surged forward, hitting a small fence and running into those sitting and standing between the vehicle and the restaurant.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"It looked like the guy put his foot on the gas pedal instead of the brake," Daniel Long, who was eating with his family inside, told KCAL-TV. "There were three people sitting on that bench -- he just went straight into them and crushed them up against the window."
Television news reports showed a silver Suzuki XL7 halfway in a parking space in front of the building, with its front end shoved over the fence onto a walkway.
A woman, 60, was critically injured and died at a hospital, Concialdi said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Two other people were hospitalized with moderate injuries, three with minor injuries and a sixth person was treated at the scene for minor injuries, Concialdi said.
One of the injured was a teenage girl, police Cpl. Andy Luong said.
The SUV driver and a female passenger, both elderly, were not hurt, Luong said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Police questioned the driver, who cooperated and was not immediately cited, Luong said.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
Farrell's is a chain of restaurants, most in California, with decorations designed to recall century-old ice cream parlors. Servers dress in "pin-striped vests, old fashioned ties, and cane hats," according to its website.