Strong Winds Wreak Havoc In Beverly Hills Where Large Tree Crushes Moving Car
BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Strong winds across the Southland led to a dramatic rescue in Beverly Hills Tuesday night where a massive tree fell onto a moving vehicle.
Firefighters were forced to cut the roof off a Mercedes Benz after the tree crushed the car on Lexington Road and Benedict Canyon Drive.
The driver of the Benz was removed from the vehicle and was transported to the hospital in unknown condition.
As CBS2's Peter Daut reports, the unidentified driver was talking to first responders when firefighters arrived.
The incident unfolded about 8:30 p.m.
"I heard that my neighbor said that he talked to the guy who did pull him out from the car and I'm not even sure how they did that when you look at the location of the tree on top of the car, it must have been pretty difficult or pretty scary," Daniel Broukhim, a witness, said.
Broukhim added: "Even the fact that the guy survived or it sounds like he may have, sounds like a miracle."
Police told Daut the strong winds were to blame for uprooting the tree.
Elsewhere in West Hollywood, a power outage temporarily impacted 2,800 Southern California Edison customers in the area of Doheny Drive and Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't immediately clear whether the wind was to blame although power had been restored.
Also in West Hollywood, authorities were monitoring a leaning billboard on Santa Monica near the intersection of Robertson boulevards that was damaged by the wind.
"This billboard has been pulled away from that building. It is kind of leaning," reported Sky 2's Stu Mundel. Mundel said firefighters have blocked off the area as a precautionary measure.