A woman drove her car down the brick stairs of the Urban Plaza yesterday afternoon, finally coming to a stop a few feet from the Portland Streetcar tracks in front of the Portland State Bookstore.
The woman, 78-year-old G.M. Olsen (not pictured), apparently became confused after driving on to the curb near the intersection of Southwest Montgomery Street and Sixth Avenue around 3:15 p.m. She then slowly drove her tan Saturn down the brick stairway, coming to a stop at the Fifth Avenue end of the plaza. No one was injured, but the woman’s car sustained some damage, leaving a long dent down the passenger side and strewing bits of tire down the stairway.
Campus Public Safety Officers arrived on the scene around 3:30 p.m., and Portland Police showed up a few minutes later. Officers talked with the woman while she remained in her car for several minutes. She appeared to be quite alert, according to CPSO Lt. Craig Whitten.