Car Crash Creates Fountain on Fountain and Confusion Among Law Enforcement

Two blocks from a fatal car wreck at 11:30 p.m. Thursday on Fountain Avenue at Stanley another crash occurred on Fountain that took out a fire hydrant and sent its own fountain of water high into the sky. The crash also left local law enforcement agencies confused about who was responsible for investigating the incident.

WEHOville was alerted to that crash by Benjamin Marker, a local resident and photographer who captured the incident on camera after he was awakened at around 2:30 a.m.

“I looked outside my window and saw a huge geyser of water about five stories high just down the street, and water flooding the street,” Marker said in an email to WEHOville. “I went to investigate and took these photos. There was a car that had taken out a fire hydrant at the corner of Fountain and Sierra Bonita. The car looked totaled and it did not seem that the driver was still in the vehicle. Fire and police had already arrived on the scene when I got there. After about 20 minutes they were able to turn off the hydrant.”

WEHOville made six telephone calls this morning to determine which law enforcement officers responded to the incident, which was on the edge of West Hollywood’s eccentric border. The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station said the accident occurred outside its jurisdiction. The L.A. Police Department’s Wilshire Division said it occurred outside its jurisdiction. The LAPD’s Hollywood Division referred WEHOville to the LAPD’s West Traffic Division. The West Traffic Division said the incident occurred in West Hollywood. The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station watch sergeant reaffirmed that it did not. So at this point it is unclear whether the driver was injured or what happened, other than that the fire hydrant was destroyed.