Updated: Dispatcher Tells Woman How to Stop Runaway Car

A panicked driver whose accelerator pedal was stuck as she approached a La Cañada intersection, avoided a collision and slowed her car, thanks to a dispatcher at .

Richard Engersbach, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s law enforcement technician,  calmed the driver whose out-of-control vehicle approached Sport Chalet Drive from Foothill Boulevard just before 11 a.m. Monday, said Lt. Angela Shepherd.

Driving a Ford Escort with a child as her passenger, the 40-year-old Sunland resident, raced toward a red light at the intersection at 20-25 mph, Shepherd said. Panicking, she called 911, which forwarded the call to Engerbach, the day shift dispatcher.

The woman sobbed, "There are cars in front of me and i can't stop," according to a LASD press release.

Engersbach calmly told her to put the car in neutral and turn off the engine. Still shaken, Shepherd said, the driver followed his instructions. The car slowed down before the engine finally died. The driver finally came to a stop before she reached the intersection.

"I was shocked when I first got the call," Engersbach is quoted as saying in a department press release.

"Knowing that a child was in the car made it that much more urgent that the car be stopped. I remembered that recently we had another runaway car incident, and that a deputy had to get in front of that car at a high rate of speed to block and stop it, so while talking to her I was also sending patrol cars to help. I am really glad everyone is okay."

And Shepherd was glad Engersbach was on the line.

"We are proud to have Richard Engersbach as a dispatcher here at Crescenta Valley Station. Due to his quick thinking and calm demeanor, he helped the caller stop her vehicle, which prevented a serious traffic collision and possibly serious injuries or even death to the caller and her child,'' Shepherd wrote in a prepared statement.