A carjacking suspect struck and injured four people attending the Rodeo Nights Holiday Lights celebration in Beverly Hills on the evening of Nov. 14. Among those hit was newly elected Beverly Hills Unified School District Board Member Russell Stuart, who was taken away from the area in a stretcher by Beverly Hills firefighters. The carjacked vehicle reached a stop after hitting the pedestrians, ramming into a building located at 9593 Wilshire Boulevard.
In a release sent that evening, the Beverly Hills Police Department said that at 7:06 p.m. they received a call reporting a carjacking using force of a black BMW X3 on the 400 block of North Bedford Drive. They later received a second call of a vehicle-versus-pedestrian traffic incident. When they arrived on Wilshire Boulevard and Camden Drive for their investigation, they determined it was the stolen vehicle and that the driver had fled the scene on foot and had left behind multiple injured victims. Officers assigned to the nearby event detained the suspect on the 200 block of North Beverly Drive.
The Courier was at the scene of the crash moments after it took place. The black BMW was crumpled into the wall of a building, leaking fluid with its airbags deployed. Balloons and items with holiday lights were strewn across the area. Several people were still awaiting medical attention; one, likely Stuart, was loaded into an ambulance via stretcher. Another, a minor, looked dazed as he was led by hand into another waiting ambulance.
Mayor Lester Friedman arrived and spoke with officers.
About 10 people gathered after the incident, watching the scene. One told the Courier that it was “just bizarre to see people so happy just a few blocks away,” and walk past several people getting medical attention.
Stuart later spoke from his hospital room to FOX 11, recounting that he had left the lighting ceremony because his dog had become rambunctious and was in the process of buying his daughter a balloon. The next thing he remembers was being in the back of an ambulance. “If there is a God, I just met him for sure,” he told an interviewer while wearing a medical neck brace. “There’s no way to say it other than the grace of God protected me.”As word spread that Stuart was one of the victims, more than 100 people posted well wishes on his social media accounts.
Among the dozens of best wishes posted on social media, former Mayor Lili Bosse said, “Last night was the scariest and hardest night we have had in our community in a very very long time. Thank God our beloved community member, Russell Stuart will be ok. This does make me believe in miracles. We love Russell and his beautiful family…”
Lisa Stuart, Russell’s wife, posted words of gratitude to the community for its love and support.
Arrested that night was 22-year-old James Portul of Pittsburg, who was booked on PC 215-Carjacking and VC290001(A) hit and run with injury. This is a developing story, and the Courier will add more details as they become available.
