Peabody police confirm that the person behind the wheel of a car that smashed through an office building Tuesday afternoon was an elderly female driver.
Detective Michael Crane said the woman was in her late 80s and was taken to Lahey Medical Center, Peabody for minor injuries.
The accident is still under investigation to determine whether it was operator or mechanical error that led to the crash.
The office was empty at the time -- an employee who had worked there just recently left the company -- and no one inside was injured.
Marc Freedman, a local financial advisor who has an office in the building, posted updates to his Facebook page after the crash and explained in news interviews how he walked by the empty office in the hallway moments before he heard a loud explosion as the car flew through the brick wall.
According to various news reports, authorities estimated the vehicle was traveling about 60 mph as it crossed the parking lot and hit the building.
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