Close call for mom and daughter amidst fatal Valley Glen crash

1 killed in Valley Glen crash

One person was killed and several others were injured after a crash in Valley Glen, in an area where residents say there have been several issues.

LOS ANGELES - One person was killed, and two others were hospitalized after a crash in the Valley Glen area of Los Angeles Saturday afternoon.

The crash happened around 12:50 p.m. in the 6000 block of N. Woodman Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to FOX 11.

Video from the Citizen App showed the aftermath of the crash. Bystanders were seen waving down first responders. A gray pickup truck looked to have collided with a smaller, white car. The roof of the white car looked to have been partially flattened. The white car was also turned in the wrong direction along the curb, while the truck was perpendicular to the curb.

Good Samaritans helped one of the survivors of the crash on the street. At the same time, Angel Russell said she was getting her young daughter ready for a play date, and was putting a child seat in her car parked along Woodman.

"I heard a screech, and then I see… I looked up and see the white car lose control," Russell said. "It like, got faster, and I had seconds to react. So the only thing I could do is throw myself on the floor, and by the grace of god, — I don't mean it that way — another car was coming and it took the impact, but there was a family in that car, too. I just jumped up, ran to my daughter, made sure she was okay."

Credit: Citizen App (Citizen App)

Once Russell's daughter was safely out of the way, she rushed to the white car, where two people were trapped.

"I didn't know if it was going to explode, but I couldn't just not do anything, so I opened the door to see if they were okay, and their bodies just slumped over," Russell said. "It was a lot of blood. I didn't touch (them), I backed up at that point and said ‘don’t touch them, we don't know what their injuries are. Call 911, someone call 911.'"

Officials said one of the people in that white car died. The other was brought to the hospital in critical condition. The mom, dad and daughter in the truck were also hurt, but are all expected to survive.

Russell said if it hadn't been for the truck, she and her daughter would have been right in the path of the white car.

Neighbors in the area said this stretch of Woodman is a major trouble area.

Resident Tim Cadwallader said that people "drive way too fast on this road. They try to beat the light, and it's just a mess all the time. I've had a vehicle get totaled on this — I've seen a lot of accidents on this road."

Russell said her heart breaks for the family of the person who was killed, and hopes the family in the truck knows how grateful her family is.

"You were my and my daughter's guardian angel," she said. "You protected us. I pray to god that you're all safe, healthy and that your recovery is speedy.

Police said they're investigating the crash as a potential DUI.