RICHMOND, Va. — Bryan Nuckles had just moved into his home in Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood when the city tree located right in front of his property gave him an unpleasant welcome.
He usually did not park under the tree, because neighbors familiar with it told him not to.
“We had been warned by three or four people on this street that it was a hazard,” Nuckles said.
But one day in June, he was briefly unloading groceries and thought it would be fine for the time being.
It wasn’t. A huge, heavy branch broke off and came down.
“And it fell directly on our car, crushed the frame, went through the dash and the headboard of our car into the aircon system, broke the engine mount, and totaled the vehicle,” Nuckles said.
Bryan Nuckles However, Nuckles felt the incident could’ve been avoided had the tree been better maintained.
“You could pan straight up and see where all of the live branches are coming out,” Nuckles told CBS 6, pointing to multiple branches that he said appeared lifeless. “And then these are dying over here. These are dying over here, and this in the middle, about two-thirds of the way up, is just dead.”