Trapped Driver Rescued After Car Crashes in Construction Site Pit

Glendale fire-rescue personnel removed the door of the car to reach the trapped driver

A driver was rescued Thursday morning from a car that landed on its roof after crashing into a Glendale construction site pit.

Glendale police say the driver was involved in a crash with a minivan before she slammed through a fence above the pit. The vehicle dropped about four stories and landed upside-down in the construction pit.

Several construction workers building the apartment complex witnessed the crash.

"We just heard a bang, and we thought the wall was coming down," said construction worker Julio Gonzalez.

"I heard a bang and the lady just flew over," said worker Oscar Corvera. "I saw her face and she held on to the steering wheel and went straight down."

Three Glendale police motor officers were the first to arrive to the scene.

"I put my hand in, grabbed the hand of the driver," said Officer Larry Ballesteros. He says another officer entered the car from the other side.

"He could see that she was moving and breathing," he said. "We kept telling her to breathe, relax, we're here."

The woman, believed to be in her early 30s, was pinned to her seat and upside down the whole time.

"She was starting to panic a little bit," Ballesteros said. "She said a couple of times she was going to die, we told her, 'You're here, you're here. Stay with us, stay with us.'"

Fire-rescue personnel removed a car door to reach the driver, who was secured to a stretcher and hoisted by a rope back to street level. Paramedics said she had serious injuries but would survive.

No construction workers were injured.

The initial crash occurred at Central and Wilson avenues. Central Avenue was closed for the emergency response.

OSHA is now investigating whether the fence around the construction site was up to code.

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