By Jorge Casuso

February 12, 2020 -- The driver of a speeding car that ricocheted into a building on Pico Bouleverd early Sunday morning was placed under arrest for DUI at a local hospital where he was treated for a broken ankle, police said.

Clinton Jeremiah Hewitt, a 22-year-old resident of Los Angeles, was arrested at the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood later that morning.

Crashed car (Courtesy Santa Monica Fire Department)

Hewiit and his two passengers -- both young adults -- were extricated by firefighters from the totaled car using the jaws of life and cutters and transported to the trauma center, Fire Department officials said.

The two passengers received only minor injuries, said Lt. Joseph Cortez, the Police Department spokesperson.

Cortez said police were surprised the injuries weren't more severe.

"I was expecting some gruesome injuries" based on the condition of the car, Cortez said.

"The driver had a broken ankle, and the passengers had relatively minor injuries."

Before slamming into the building at the corner of Pico and 12th Street, the car hit three parking meters, one city streetlight pole, two parkway trees and a fire hydrant, Cortez said.

Police are investigating the crash, and the misdemeanor DUI charge could be upgraded, Cortez said.

"If we find something that put the lives of other people in extreme danger, it would be given to the District Attorneys office," which could press criminal charges, he said.