Friday morning, residents near Ocean Beach were stunned by the sight of a woman driving her Lexus down stairway 25 onto the beach. From there, she proceeded to continue driving across 300 feet of sand and then drove directly into the Pacific Ocean. Not only does the city of San Francisco not allow driving on the beach, but this escapade took quite a bit of effort.
After driving into the surf, the woman remained in her car, apparently undecided on her next move. Whether she thought it was legal to drive on the beach, or was under the influence, confused in the dark, or planning suicide remains unclear.
Local residents were out to watch at 6:30 a.m. along the Great Highway as a team from the SF Fire Department arrived and removed the woman from her vehicle. She was then taken to the psychiatric unit at SF General Hospital and evaluated. The car remained stuck in the surf all day, as a high tide was coming in, making it impossible to remove the vehicle safely. The car floated around in the water through the day, while passersby stopped to watch.
Hours before sunset, a local tow truck company finally decided it was safe, and arrived to deal with the aftermath of this bizarre event. The tow truck driver didn't look too happy, struggling to retrieve a 2 ton object in 4 feet of water, but he was finally able to get it hooked up and removed. ABC news showed footage of the removal last night. Local residents will be puzzling over this for weeks to come, hoping it isn't the start of a new trend.
© Copyright 2012 Mary Holman. All rights reserved. This article and content may not be republished, rewritten or excerpted.
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