Man Hits Hydrant, Is Saved From Drowning

A bystander may have saved a suspected drunk driver from drowning Sunday after the motorist struck a fire hydrant in Boyle Heights and lay semiconscious as water gushed into his car.

Hector Gonzalez drove his pickup over the geyser that was flooding the inside of Hipolito Gutierrez’s car. Gonzalez then pulled Gutierrez, 28, out of the car.

And in another accident involving a car smashing into a fire hydrant Sunday, one man was killed after a 91-year-old motorist hit two pedestrians, a truck and an armored car before her car sheared off a fire hydrant, flooding part of West Slauson Avenue, authorities said.

One pedestrian, whose name was not released, died shortly after the midafternoon accident, said city Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. A 43-year-old man was seriously hurt and the 91-year-old woman was listed in fair condition.

The Boyle Heights accident took place at 1:55 a.m. as Gutierrez drove west on Whittier Boulevard and collided with a vehicle heading south on Soto Street, police said. His car then careened and flipped, hitting the fire hydrant in front of the Carnitas Michoacan taco restaurant.