A deadly crash shook downtown Los Angeles early Friday after a car flew off Upper Grand Avenue and dropped roughly 50 feet onto the roadway below, landing upside down.
The Los Angeles Police Department told The California Post that the driver was heading north on Upper Grand Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. when the vehicle left the road, tumbled over the edge and fell an estimated 40 to 50 feet to Lower Grand Avenue.
Authorities said the driver, identified only as a Black man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said he was alone in the car, and no other vehicles were involved in the downtown Los Angeles crash.
Video from the aftermath showed what appeared to be a black sedan crushed and overturned on its roof, with severe damage concentrated around the front end.
One witness nearby recalled hearing the terrifying moment the vehicle came crashing down to the street.
“I was at the ATM and I heard something go ‘boom,’ and I said that sounds like a car that fell down here,” the witness said, gesturing toward the lower roadway. “And look, it was a car that fell down here. That’s crazy.”
Asked if she had ever seen a vehicle plunge from Upper Grand Avenue before, she replied, “Hell no.”
Los Angeles Fire Department crews responded to the scene and appeared to examine the wreckage before a white sheet was placed over the vehicle.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by police. Officials have not said whether impairment may have been a factor.