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Woman Mistakes Wash For Freeway In Glendale, Drives 70 MPH

GLENDALE (CBS) — The Army Corps of Engineers may have to be called in to remove a Mercedes sedan from the Verdugo Wash, after a woman mistook it for the freeway.

The 53-year-old Glendale woman told police she drove into the wash at Glenoaks and Kenilworth Road in Glendale about 11 a.m. Maintenance workers, who got her to stop at San Fernando Road, told police she reached speeds of about 70 mph.

The woman complained of some back pain, so she was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

As far as the sedan, a crane may have to be used to get it out of the wash, Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

"It can't go forward because there's an 8-foot drop," Lorenz said. "Can't go backward because it went over a 3- to 4-foot drop."

In addition, the agencies overseeing the wash vary. It so happens that the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the area of the wash where the Mercedes stopped.

In order to get a crane in to remove the sedan, authorities may have to shut down the Metrolink train that runs over the area and San Fernando Boulevard to get to it.

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