At least 22 Los Angeles county sheriff’s recruits injured after car runs over class

More than 20 Los Angeles county sheriff's recruits were injured early Wednesday morning when a car driving the wrong way hit the class while they were on a training run.

Authorities have detained a 22-year-old driver in connection with the incident, which left 22 people injured, five with critical injuries.

"We know for sure we have a 22-year-old male driver that was going the wrong way and ran into the class," Sheila Kelliher, a spokesperson and captain with the Los Angeles county fire department, said at a press conference Wednesday morning. "At this point that is what we know. We don't know much else about the driver."

A vehicle struck the class of 75 recruits while they were on a training run around dawn in Whittier, a Los Angeles suburb that is home to the department's Star Explorer Training Academy, officials said. The vehicle was driving south when it crossed into northbound lanes and hit the recruits, who regularly run in the area in groups wearing "high-visibility vests", Fox11 reported.

Footage from TV news helicopters showed a large response of firefighters and ambulances, a grey SUV on a sidewalk next to a toppled light pole as well as numerous individuals nearby in uniform workout clothes. Injured cadets were transported to about seven different hospitals, Kelliher said. The driver, who officials have not identified, was given a field sobriety test.

The California highway patrol is investigating the incident.