VIDEO: Pasadena woman narrowly escapes being crushed by big rig

Leo Stallworth Image
Thursday, January 24, 2019
VIDEO: Pasadena woman escapes being crushed by big rig
A Pasadena woman narrowly escaped being crushed when a big rig fell on top of her car.

PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- A Pasadena woman narrowly escaped being crushed when a big rig fell on top of her car on Wednesday.

It was a nightmare for the driver of the big rig who failed to prevent his truck from toppling over during a turn on a busy street. The massive truck crashed into the roof of Rosa Mejia's Toyota Prius - while she was inside.

"I felt something fall on top of me, but I didn't know what it was... I really couldn't see, I was so scared," Mejia said.

Mejia was paralyzed by fear when suddenly the roof of her vehicle began to cave in more and more and the thought of being crushed entered her mind.

"I could have died," she thought. "Whatever it is that's falling down on me, it's going to keep falling."

The freak accident happened at about 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of Fair Oaks Avenue and Del Mar Boulevard in Pasadena.

Surveillance cameras at nearby Los Angeles College of Music captured the incident.

With emergency response crews yet to arrive, Mejia said she knew she had to get out of her vehicle before the worst happened. She's thankful her daughter arrived screaming and crying for her mother to wiggle her way out of danger.

"My daughter came, she pulled me out. She said, 'Mom, get out through here, get out through here,' and she was crying," Mejia recalled.

Outside of rattled nerves, Mejia escaped the vehicle without serious injuries.

She said that although the driver of the truck appeared to be OK, she knows he was shaken up emotionally.

"I feel sorry for the driver of the truck because he didn't do it on purpose," Mejia said. "It was just an accident, you just have to be more careful."