Lohan Crashes Car — Again

But Sheriff's Dept. Says Paparazzi Not A Factor This Time

(CBS)  Actress Lindsay Lohan was involved in another traffic accident Tuesday, colliding with a van after an afternoon of shopping and dining in Los Angeles' West Hollywood neighborhood.

CBS News correspondent Teri Okita reports the driver of the van, a busboy at a nearby café, was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. Lohan and her female passenger ran to a nearby antiques store to get help before being transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

Initial eyewitness reports indicated the actress was dodging the paparazzi at the time of the crash, but the L.A. Sheriff's Department later said photographers were not a factor.

Still, the paparazzi were often at Lohan's side during the day.

"I saw them surrounding her crossing the street and really invading her space while she was trying to shop on Robertson," Victoria Recaño, an "The Insider" correspondent, told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen.

Recaño was there at the time of the accident.

"As far as seeing her being trailed by paparazzi, I didn't actually see a car on her tail," Recaño said. "I did not see any car on her tail when I saw her drive by."

Store manager Anna Maria Sandegren said Lohan "was really kind of bothered by them. They didn't respect that she wanted to be by herself, of course."

"While Lohan was eating lunch there were plenty of photographers," Recaño said. "There were even more seen the second the accident occurred. There were photographers swarming around her car. It's fair to say she was probably frazzled and upset and wanted to jump out and run for cover."

The accident happened just before 5 p.m., and Lohan's badly damaged black Mercedes was in the middle of Los Angeles' trendy Robertson Boulevard. Recaño was just feet away when the collision occurred.

"I was having lunch at the newsroom," Recaño said, "and I saw a black convertible drive by. The next thing I know — crash, several bangs — and I went over to see what had happened. And it was Lindsey Lohan jumping out of the car with her passenger, with the passenger that was riding with her, and running into an antique shop right across the street."

Another witness, Katherine Starr, said: "It felt like, like a bomb going off."

"She was going at a rapid rate of speed," Richard Starr added. "I could see her face, I recognized her, and she was laughing with the girl in the car with her and kinda looking over her shoulder to see if anybody was coming behind her."

The actresses' airbags deployed after Lohan crashed her Mercedes-Benz convertible into the passenger side of a Chevy van.

"This red van had actually made a U-turn earlier, like within a few a seconds," Katherine Starr said, "and he was coming over hear to get this parking spot. First, you heard the squealing wheels, it was just a squelch, and then you heard this — bam! — and everybody on the street felt it and saw it."