Marblehead Woman Tells Police She Couldn't Find Brake Before Crash Down Embankment

The driver of a car that crashed down an embankment at the end of a deadend street in Salem told police she couldn’t find the brake pedal.

The crash happened at about 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday when a Toyota Prius, driven by a 78-year-old woman from Marblehead, went through a guardrail at the end of Porter Street and down a hill “which is an unpaved surface not designed for driving,” according to a police report.

The car crashed through a fence to a dog play area and got trapped “on a retaining wall of large boulders.”

Firefighters help get the driver - who was not seriously injured - out of the car. She told police she “could not find the brake pedal and did not see metal guardrail at the end of Porter Street.”