Runaway Toyota Prius Corralled by Cops

(Runaway Prius story updated with Associated Press report on federal probe into the incident)>

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Toyota(TM) may be out of the frying pan for now as far as congressional hearings are concerned, but it's far from out of the fire -- as evidenced Monday a Prius that sped out of control at 94 mph on a San Diego highway.

"I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny... it jumped and it just stuck there," said James Sikes, 61, as he recounted his harrowing driving experience at a news conference, according to the Associated Press. "As it was going, I was trying the brakes ... it wasn't stopping, it wasn't doing anything and it just kept speeding up."

Sikes, who was driving on Interstate 8 near La Posta called 911 from his car and was rescued by patrol officers who gave him instructions over a loudspeaker and helped him bring the car back down to 50 mph and eventually to a halt, says AP. Toyota, according to the AP, says it has sent a field expert to San Diego to look into the issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent investigators to California Tuesday to probe possible causes of the incident, the AP reported. Toyota stock closed down 1.6% to $76.67.

Toyota has already recalled around 8.5 million vehicles globally over sudden, unintended accelerations as well as braking problems. Toyota announced Tuesday an expanded recall of the Prius .

Our auto recall gallery compares Toyota's recall with those by rival carmakers.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

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