Caught on Camera: Driver Accused of Running Down Pedestrians

Entrance of a modern police station with brick facade

A shocking new video of a stolen car plowing through people at a Culver City gas station is the latest warning that soft‑on‑crime policies and urban chaos are putting everyday Americans in the crosshairs.

Story Snapshot

A 45-year-old suspect is charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after a carjacking and hit-and-run rampage through Culver City and downtown Los Angeles.
Police say he carjacked a Toyota Camry at knifepoint, then circled a gas station and intentionally hit pedestrians before leading officers on a high-speed chase.^[1]^[3]
New surveillance video shows the stolen car aiming at people in what police describe as a deliberate attack, injuring victims aged 15 to 70.^[2]^[3]
The case highlights a wider national rise in hit-and-run incidents and questions about how many dangerous drivers slip through the cracks in big cities.^[13]

Violent rampage turns a gas station into a crime scene

Police say the chaos started when 45-year-old Juan Luis Estrada allegedly carjacked a white Toyota Camry at knifepoint in downtown Los Angeles before heading into Culver City.^[1]^[3] According to Culver City police, Estrada then began striking vehicles and people, turning normal city streets into a trail of crime scenes. New video released by police shows a stolen car circling a gas station, lining up targets, and then charging toward pedestrians in what looks less like a crash and more like a human hunting ground.^[2]

Officers say the violence did not stop at the gas station. Investigators report that multiple pedestrians were hit near key intersections, including Centinela Avenue and Washington Boulevard, Braddock Drive and Sepulveda Boulevard, and other nearby streets.^[2]^[5] Victims included a 15-year-old and other pedestrians up to 70 years old, with injuries described as non–life-threatening but serious enough to send several people to the hospital.^[3]^[5] For everyday families just pumping gas or walking across the street, the message was chilling: the sidewalk is no longer a safe place.

High-speed chase, McDonald’s crash, and major charges

Culver City officers say they tried to pull Estrada over after spotting the stolen car, but he refused to stop and instead led them on a dangerous chase through Culver City and into downtown Los Angeles.^[1]^[3] The pursuit ended only after he crashed head-on into another vehicle in a McDonald’s drive-thru, where an officer also crashed and suffered non–life-threatening injuries.^[2]^[3] Police had to physically restrain and hogtie Estrada at the scene before finally taking him into custody and to the hospital for treatment.^[3]^[7]

Prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office have now charged Estrada with ten counts of attempted murder, along with carjacking, felony evading a peace officer causing serious bodily injury, battery on a peace officer, and three counts of felony hit-and-run.^[1]^[3] Bail has been set at about $10.25 million, reflecting what officials describe as a violent crime spree spanning from downtown Los Angeles through Culver City.^[1]^[7] A court hearing next month will decide whether Estrada is mentally fit to stand trial, a step that could shape how fast justice is delivered and what kind of sentence he may face.^[2]

Urban crime, weak deterrence, and a rising hit-and-run crisis

This case is not happening in a vacuum. Research shows that hit-and-run crashes have been rising for years across the country, reaching nearly 3,000 deaths in 2022 and making up about 7 percent of all traffic deaths nationwide.^[13] More than 70 percent of people killed in hit-and-run crashes are pedestrians or bicyclists, the very people who have no protection when a car comes at them.^[13] These crimes are most common in big cities and in vulnerable neighborhoods, where families already feel left behind and underprotected.^[13]

Culver City police released new surveillance video of a rampage involving a suspected carjacker, including multiple crashes that injured eight pedestrians on June 16. https://t.co/VLVBMaKEY5 pic.twitter.com/hLmy62RthN

— KTLA (@KTLA) June 23, 2026

California has tried tools like “yellow alerts” on highway signs to help catch hit-and-run drivers, but that earlier system expired and has not been renewed, even as many cities describe hit-and-runs as an epidemic.^[11] At the same time, legal guides show that felony hit-and-run charges can still be treated as “wobblers,” meaning prosecutors can file them as felonies or misdemeanors depending on how they choose to use their power.^[12] When drivers see weak enforcement and low odds of being caught, it invites more lawless behavior and more innocent victims in the crosswalk.

Media shock, missing context, and what comes next

Major outlets and social media posts have blasted out clips of the Culver City rampage, often with loaded headlines calling the driver a “maniac carjacker” and focusing on the horror of the footage.^[1]^[4] These images are real and disturbing, but they also raise questions about how the public learns about crime: lots of emotion, very little context about why these attacks keep happening and how policy choices feed them. Viewers see the crash, but they rarely see the long history of loosened penalties and repeat offenders behind the wheel.

Police in Culver City say their investigation is still active and they are reviewing more video, witnesses, and evidence to confirm every victim and every impact.^[1]^[3] For conservatives who value law and order, this case hits on several key fears at once: violent offenders using cars as weapons, busy city streets turned into danger zones, and a justice system stretched thin by years of soft policing and activist policies. As the Trump administration in Washington pushes for tougher federal tools against violent crime, local officials in deep-blue cities will face growing pressure to stop treating public safety as an afterthought and start defending the basic right of Americans to walk down the street without being hunted by a stolen car.