mad scramble to get themselves and others out of the way and to rush to help those who were hit.

The car hit at least three vendors who were sitting at their sales booths, video showed.

It hit two women who appeared to be in their 60s, Hagan said.

Many ran after the car, screaming and cursing as it sped away, he said.

Hodge said she and her friend, 31-year-old Ashley Taylor, had made note of the numbers walking along the seaside.

"It was a really nice day, there were tons of people out, in fact, we were talking about how packed it was, because we were having a hard time getting through all the people," said Hodge.

She and her friend stepped into a store to buy a couple of hats, a movethat may have saved their lives, and stepped out to see the aftermath, as emergency crews arrived and started putting victims on tarps.

Hodge saw one man and woman lying next to each other, wearing head braces and barely able to move.

"They were just laying next to each other and grasping hands," Hodge said, "just a man and a woman holding hands."

Hours later police were surveying the same stretch of ground for evidence.

The Venice boardwalk is a cultural hub in a part of Los Angeles known for its circus-meets-gritty-city eccentricities.

The 1.5-mile ribbon of asphalt that runs along the sand a few hundred yards from the ocean is home to galleries, restaurants, tattoo shops, skateboard parks and the famous outdoor weight room known as Muscle Beach.

It can draw as many