Woman seriously injured after driver allegedly asleep at the wheel ploughs into Sydney café customers

A woman is in hospital with serious injuries after a car drove into outdoor seating at a café in Sydney this morning.

Two customers were sitting at an outside table of the Cupcake Room on Norton Street in Leichhardt about 9.50am when a silver BMW rolled across two lanes of traffic and drove into them.

A 67-year-old woman was pinned to the wall of the café by the car.

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The woman was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition, suffering injuries to her leg and hip.

The other patron managed to move out of the car's path but was thrown to the ground in the process.

CCTV showed the car mounting the curb in a heart-stopping moment as bystanders sprinted towards the car in a desperate attempt to stop it from hitting patrons.

It's understood the driver, a man in his 30s, was asleep at the wheel.

"We started banging on the window saying 'wake up, wake up, wake up' and there was no response," witnesses told 9News.

Witnesses rushed to the aid of the victim and helped pull her out from the crash scene, as other bystanders ordered the driver out of the car.

However, the man was seen rustling through items on the passenger seat before getting back into the car and fleeing the scene.

Police located the car just 600 metres away on Darley Road and arrested the driver, who was also taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital under police guard for an assessment.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.

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