A neighbor of the tenant whose house Anne Heche crashed into Friday in Los Angeles is speaking out about a group of witnesses attempting to rescue the actor from the fiery collision that left her with critical injuries.
Lynne Bernstein, a neighbor who heard a car "screaming" down the street of Los Angeles' Mar Vista neighborhood Friday morning, told TODAY his wife heard the impact — and she said it did not sound good. Bernstein said he and his wife ran outside and started seeing glass everywhere.
"I could see a big hole in the house," Bernstein said, adding he ran inside of the house to try to help. "You could tell the car had crashed through the floor. I mean, it was all the way through the front room and into the back, by the back wall of the house."
As a neighbor called for others to get a hose after discovering flames inside of the residence, one witness was able to break open the back door of the vehicle and ask the driver if she was all right.
"She acknowledged 'no,'" Bernstein said. At that point the smoke became intense, Bernstein explained, making it difficult to access the car.After firefighters arrived to the scene, Bernstein told TODAY, he and the other witnesses explained there was still a woman trapped inside of the car, and the fire department "took it from there."
"We were just thinking by now there’s just no way she could still be alive," Bernstein said, but added he and the other witnesses were "elated" to see that she had survived.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said in a statement LAFD rescuers were able to pull the driver from the vehicle, and that the driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The crash sparked a "heavy fire," which was extinguished in a little more than an hour, and there were no other reported injuries, Humphrey said.
A representative for Heche told NBC News in a statement Saturday the actor was "in stable condition," and that her family and friends "ask for your thoughts and prayers and to respect her privacy during this difficult time."
Bernstein said his neighbor was also lucky to survive the crash, and that her dogs and turtle were rescued from the residence. A GoFundMe page has been launched to help raise money to replace her belongings damaged in the crash.
A blue Mini Cooper appeared to crash into a garage before speeding off, according to footage obtained by TMZ, and witness footage showed a blue Mini Cooper traveling at a high rate of speed on residential streets prior to the collision into the Mar Vista home.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to NBC News on Monday that a warrant was obtained Friday to draw blood from Heche.
Heche could face misdemeanor DUI and hit-and-run charges if it is determined she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the spokesperson said. Any findings on the case would be presented to the city attorney’s office.
The results of the blood test could take weeks, the spokesperson said.
The Los Angeles Police Department previously told NBC News on Sunday a traffic collision investigation is ongoing, and investigators are looking into misdemeanor hit-and-run incidents leading up to the crash.
The Los Angeles city attorney's office told NBC News on Monday morning the LAPD had not provided a referral to its office, which the city attorney would need "to determine what charges, if any, would be applicable."
