EAST HOLLYWOOD — The man accused of driving his car into a crowd of people outside a Santa Monica Boulevard nightclub, injuring more than three dozen people July 19, has been charged with 37 counts of attempted murder and 37 counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Fernando Ramirez, 29, is being held without bail while awaiting arraignment July 30 in downtown Los Angeles.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said July 22 that Ramirez is facing a possible life prison sentence if convicted as charged. Hochman said the charges “correspond to each of the 37 victims that suffered injuries as a result of Mr. Ramirez’s actions.”
“The defendant’s brazen and destructive actions … have caused unimaginable harm to dozens of innocent people,” Hochman said. “This is a heinous act that left dozens injured, and while the allegations will be tested in court, the impact on the victims is undeniable.
“Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones as they begin the long road to recovery. We are committed to pursuing justice with care and compassion for those impacted.”
According to Hochman, Ramirez is accused of “intentionally driving his car onto the sidewalk near the Vermont Hollywood, a popular event venue.”
He said the charges include allegations that Ramirez inflicted great bodily harm on eight of the victims who suffered injuries including “fractures, lacerations and broken bones.”
The crash was reported just before 2 a.m. in the 4600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, near Vermont Avenue, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz. The crowd was standing outside the Vermont Hollywood, where a show was taking place.
Speaking at a news conference with Hochman July 22 Police Chief Jim McDonnell said, “It’s truly a miracle that nobody was killed that night.”
Seven people were hospitalized in critical condition, six were seriously injured and 10 were in fair condition, Lantz said. Seven people were assessed at the scene and declined hospital transport.
As of July 20, only one patient remained in critical — but stable — condition, and had a broken leg, according to NBC4.
The driver, later identified as Ramirez, was pulled from the vehicle and shot in the back by an unknown attacker as onlookers set upon him, police said. Ramirez was then taken into custody. The gunman who shot Ramirez remains at large.
The shooting suspect was described as Hispanic, between 5-feet-6 inches and 5-feet-7 inches tall, and weighing between 150 and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue Dodgers jacket, a light blue jersey with the number “5,” and blue jeans. He has gauges (wide piercings) in both ears and a goatee. He is bald in photos released by police, who earlier described him as possibly armed with a silver revolver.
The Los Angeles Police Department released an updated photo of the suspect July 21.
Ramirez was taken to a hospital, and though his condition was not provided, his injuries did not appear to be life threatening, authorities said.
The shooting suspect ran from the scene. He was last seen westbound from Vermont Avenue.
LAPD Capt. Ben Fernandes told the Los Angeles Times that Ramirez had been kicked out of the nightclub for being disruptive before he crashed into the crowd.
Ramirez, of San Clemente, has a lengthy criminal record in Orange County dating back to 2014.
Ramirez was convicted Oct. 17, 2019, in Orange County of a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury, with a sentencing enhancement for a hate crime and a misdemeanor count of hate crime for sucker-punching a Black Whole Foods employee in Laguna Beach in June 2019, according to court records. But the hate crime count and enhancement were overturned on appeal in January 2021 and then dismissed March 26, 2021.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2020 for the hate crime attack, but after those charges were dismissed he was re-sentenced to four years in prison.
Ramirez is currently charged with domestic battery causing injury with a prior conviction for violence and a misdemeanor count of violating a protective-stay-away order for an alleged attack on a girlfriend in San Juan Capistrano on Jan. 28, 2022, according to court records. That case is still pending, with Ramirez due in court for a pretrial hearing July 30 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.
Ramirez also is awaiting trial for allegedly driving drunk in Fountain Valley on Aug. 12 of last year.
Ramirez pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a misdemeanor count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and two counts of resisting arrest on Sept. 11, 2021. Prosecutors said in court papers that he resisted arrest after he grabbed a woman by the hair and slammed her into a three-foot-tall cinder block.
Ramirez also pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a misdemeanor count of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant on Aug. 24, 2021.
Ramirez pleaded guilty to corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and child abuse, both misdemeanors, in June of 2018. He pleaded guilty to felony counts of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and gang-related battery in December 2014.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to call the LAPD’s Rampart Community Police Station at 213-484-3424. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.
