Columbia Woman Died After Driving Off Parking Structure: Police

A Columbia woman died Sunday afternoon when her vehicle crashed through a retaining wall and fell from the upper to lower level in a parking lot, according to police.

Barbara Schwartz, 83, of Columbia, was driving through the upper level of a parking structure in the 5400 block of Vantage Point Road when the vehicle hit a retaining wall at approximately 3:55 p.m., police reported.

For an undetermined reason, Schwartz accelerated before her 2009 Hyundai Sonata hit the retaining wall, police said.

The vehicle fell off the upper level of the parking structure and into the lower-level parking lot, police reported.

Schwartz was taken to Howard County General Hospital, where she was declared dead, according to police.

The crash remains under investigation.