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# Woman drives down Promenade
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/woman-drives-down-promenade/
- Published: 2003-08-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:47:12.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Crime, Promenade, #archive-import

*Cars illegal on pedestrian mall*

A confused 67-year-old woman drove her car down Santa Monica’s pedestrian mall on Monday, but injured no one.

The Third Street Promenade, normally crowded with thousands of people during the day, was virtually empty at 10:05 a.m. when the woman traveled nearly an entire block driving on the sidewalk, weaving in and out of trash cans, outdoor vendors and outdoor seating. She stopped just short of a sidewalk vendor.

A Santa Monica police motorcycle officer was flagged down by a witness on Ocean Avenue who saw the woman driving northbound on the Promenade from Santa Monica Boulevard. When the officer entered the outdoor mall from Arizona Avenue, he saw the woman’s white Honda Accord parked on the eastside of the Promenade, said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega.

The vehicle suffered only minor damage after brushing up against a trash can. The woman, whose identity wasn’t released, was let go after the incident. However, police submitted a request to the Department of Motor Vehicles to have the woman’s driving abilities re-examined. A police report was taken to the City Attorney’s office where it will be determined if the woman should be cited for violating Santa Monica law for driving on the Promenade, Fabrega said.

Bob Deffendoll, a Santa Monica resident, witnessed the incident.

“I was sitting at Starbucks when she just came zipping through,” he said, adding that she was driving about 10 to 15 miles per hour. “It’s a good thing there was no crowd out here.”

> “I was sitting at Starbucks when she just came zipping through. It’s a good thing there was no crowd out here.” — — BOB DEFFENDOLL Witness

The removable guard posts designed to keep vehicular traffic from entering the Promenade were up and in locked position when the incident occurred. The driver didn’t have to drive over any curbs.

According to witness Ken Karl, the woman thought she could drive on the outdoor mall. “She said to me, ‘I thought it was a street … you can’t drive here?’ and asked me to back up her car for her.”

The event is reminiscent of the Farmers’ Market tragedy that occurred July 16 when 86-year-old Santa Monica resident Russell Weller reportedly hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and drove through a crowded Arizona Avenue, killing 10 and injuring nearly 80 people.

Two weeks ago, an 86-year-old Santa Monica man smashed his car into a fence that surrounds a home daycare center and then left the scene. No one was injured. The unidentified man drove out of the Elks Lodge parking lot off on Pico Boulevard into the alley and plowed straight into Perviz Esmail’s iron gate that blocked the north side of her home.

The iron gate was pushed within feet of playground equipment where Esmail operates a private daycare facility for up to 12 kids. Her home is directly across the alley from the Elks Lodge parking lot.

And earlier this month, a 75-year-old man was arrested after he drove nearly two miles while a police officer attempted to pull him over for a vehicle code violation.

Gino Gottorelli, of Santa Monica, was arrested on Aug. 5 for failing to stop for an emergency vehicle after he drove down several streets, ignoring the police car’s sirens, lights and public address system indicating that he should pull over.

Gottorelli finally stopped when he arrived home on the 1000 block of Fifth Street. However, he led the officer from the 1400 block of Fifth Street, turned west on California Avenue, north on Fourth Street to Adelaide Drive, made a U-turn and headed south on Fourth Street, east on Marguerita Avenue to Seventh Street south and then to the 1000 block of Fifth Street.

He was arrested in his driveway.

July’s Farmers’ Market crash is still under investigation and charges are pending against Weller. The incident has instigated national debate about senior citizens’ driving abilities and whether their licenses should be renewed on an annual basis.

(Santa Monica Daily Press Publisher Ross Furukawa contributed to this report.)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081903-02_01.jpg)

A woman drove her car nearly a block on the Third Street Promenade Monday. (Photo: Ross Furukawa/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 19, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081903.pdf?ref=smdp.com)