A car plowed through a group of pedestrians in front of a Fremont nightclub early Saturday morning, injuring six with an impact that literally knocked some people out of their shoes, according to eyewitnesses.

One of the injured, a 21-year-old man, was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said.

Fremont Universe, a neighborhood news partner of The Seattle Times, interviewed eyewitnesses, who provided the following accounts:

"I was standing there looking at my friend, and the next second he was gone," one man said.

"The way that these people flew over the top — all of them went over the car, not under the car. All of them went over the top like rag dolls," another man said.

"Shoes were everywhere," a third man said.

The car, a Subaru Forester, hit the group near the Nectar Lounge, at North 36th Street and Phinney Avenue North, at about 2 a.m., just as the nightclub was closing, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The driver, a 23-year-old Seattle man, was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault, according to the jail register. Seattle police released a statement saying, "It appears that alcohol may be a contributing factor."

One of the injured, a 28-year-old man, declined medical aid, police said. The other five, all in their 20s or 30s, were transported to Harborview Medical Center. In addition to the victim in critical condition, three men were listed in stable condition and a woman was in serious condition, police said.

Several witnesses told Fremont Universe that the victims were standing in North 36th Street, talking to someone in a stopped car, when the eastbound Subaru drove into them. The Subaru pulled over within a block, its windshield shattered and hood crumpled.