A woman trying to retrieve her mail was run over by her own car Thursday in the suburban Boynton Beach community of Oakwood Lakes, Fla.

The car, an older model Oldsmobile Toronado was in reverse when Gilda Bartlett, 82, stepped out to fetch her mail on Thursday afternoon.

"The door was wide open and it hit her, it knocked her down," Bartlett's neighbor Bob Curcio told news channel WPTV.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's report, the woman was dragged backward for about 30 feet. Witnesses said Bartlett was hit several times by the car as it circled the pavement. Neighbors then dragged her to safety.

The vehicle continued in a circular motion, maintaining a speed of about 10-15 miles an hour. "It started making loops, this way, to the left, counterclockwise," Curcio told WPTV. "It just kept on going."

Firefighters and police responded, trying in vain to stop the car by flattening the tires.

"They tried the strip of nails and that didn't work," witness Tom Bilinski told WPTV.

Rammed by patrol car
Firefighter Jody Marlow tried to jump into the vehicle and stop it, but was thrown from the car and suffered minor injuries, the report said. The Oldsmobile was eventually stopped by a sheriff's deputy, who rammed it with his patrol car.

Bartlett is in serious but stable condition at Delray Medical Center, according to the sheriff's office.

Bartlett's granddaughter told WPTV the woman had no broken bones, but she had a big cut on the back of her head that had to be stapled.

WPTV.com contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

• 'Lost' phone project shows human nature’s dark side
• When rumor, the Internet and school violence fears collide
• Cops, amateur sleuths find relatives of mysterious twins
• Quake catastrophe like Japan's could hit Pacific Northwest

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook