LOS ANGELES

100-year-old driver backs his Cadillac into 14 people

The screams of women and children didn’t cause a 100-year-old driver to stop as he backed his large powder blue Cadillac onto a sidewalk across from an elementary school and hit 14 people, including 11 children.

So people began pounding on his windows screaming for him to stop, witness Alma Solache said.

Three children remained hospitalized Thursday, authorities said, but were expected to recover.

Children’s backpacks, shoes, candy and loose change were strewn about the scene after the accident behind a discount grocery store across from Main Street Elementary.

Police said the driver, Preston Carter, was cooperative and drugs or alcohol were not a factor in the crash. They confirmed he has a valid driver’s license and insurance.

Carter talked to television reporters after the crash some five miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, telling them he will be 101 years old Sept. 5. “My brakes failed. It was out of control,” he told KCAL-TV.

Police said Thursday they planned to inspect Carter’s vehicle, including testing the brakes.

Asked about hitting the children, he said: “You know I’m sorry about that. I wouldn’t do that for nothing on earth. My sympathies for them.”

Carter was pulling out of a grocery store parking lot, but instead of backing into the street, he backed onto the sidewalk, police said.

WASHINGTON

Pentagon tells former SEAL he may face legal action

The Pentagon’s top lawyer has informed the former Navy SEAL who wrote the forthcoming book “No Easy Day,” describing details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, that he violated agreements to not divulge military secrets and that as a result the Pentagon is considering taking legal action against him.

The letter from Pentagon general counsel Jeh Johnson was transmitted to the author Thursday. 

— From news service reports