Potential School Board Member Injured in Carjacking-Crash in Beverly Hills

BEVERLY HILLS (CNS) – A likely incoming Beverly Hills School Board member was among four people injured when a carjacking suspect crashed the stolen vehicle into an office building near the Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration, Fox11 reported.

Russell Stuart, who is among the leading candidates for one of three school board seats, told the station he was walking home from the event with the family dog when the suspect came speeding down the street in a stolen BMW and veered toward him and others in the crowd.

He sustained several broken bones and is facing multiple surgeries.

“I was handing this woman money [for balloons], and I heard the screech of tires, looked up, and instantaneously got hit,” Stuart said. “It’s very difficult to process how your life can flash in front of your eyes. If there’s a God, I just met him for sure.”

His dog was also wounded along with three other people. All are expected to survive.

The collision occurred at 7:05 Thursday when a man used force to steal a woman’s black BMW X3 SUV on the 400 block of North Bedford Drive, near Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills police said.

A man later identified as James Portul, 22, of Pittsburgh, Penn. struck several pedestrians and a pillar of an office building as he fled before being arrested on the 200 block of South Beverly Drive, between Wilshire and Olympic boulevards, according to police.

Portul was booked on suspicion of carjacking and hit-and-run with injury, police said.

The other people injured have not been identified, but Beverly Hills paramedics said they took another man, a woman and a boy to hospitals for further evaluation and treatment.

Stuart, who owns Beverly Hills Guns on Wilshire Boulevard, was ahead of his nearest challenger by 424 votes for the third available seat on the Beverly Hills School Board in the Nov. 5 General Election, according to the latest figures from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

The results have not been certified, and it was unclear how many ballots still need to be counted.