Woman crushed, killed by falling tree while sitting in parked car
A woman was seated in her parked car near the Grove when a tree fell and crushed her car. The incident happened at the 4100 block of Chouteau just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
By Rheanna Wachter and Shoshana Stahl
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A woman was seated in her parked car near the Grove when a tree fell and crushed her car.
The incident happened at the 4100 block of Chouteau just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Helen Petty says the woman tried to wait out the storm in her car, when the tree fell.
“They had saws and cut off both the doors of the car,” Petty says. “They were cutting giant huge tree limbs off. Hoisting them with ropes and pulleys.”
Petty says in the car next to the woman was another neighbor also sitting in his car.
The tree also crushed his car, but Petty says he was able to get out safely.
“He went over to her, as did the owner of the Mexican restaurant down the street,” Petty says. “He came running over and spoke to her. She was responsive. She was alive and started calling 911 and couldn’t get through.”
Petty says she didn’t know the woman well but says she was young and had moved to the neighborhood just a few weeks ago.
“I can’t imagine dying in a car waiting for an emergency response team for God knows how long,” Petty says.
Petty says after calling and calling, it took nearly 40 minutes to get emergency responders on the scene.
“When you’re on hold and when you can’t get through for 30, 40 minutes, an hour, and somebody is literally dying,” Petty says.
Petty says other neighbors stayed with the woman while waiting for emergency crews to arrive.
“I am furious,” Petty says. “Not at the fire department. They were working tirelessly as soon as they got here and got the call, but our governor, in my opinion, is responsible. He cut millions of dollars in funding that was meant to improve our 911 system.”
In response to the situation, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of Public Safety said, “Today’s severe storms created a large volume of 911 calls to police and fire dispatch. The Department of Public Safety is aware of the social media posts in question and is investigating the circumstances that led up to this incident.”
A neighbor who asked to stay anonymous says she stayed with the women, holding her hand and praying for her until emergency crews arrived on scene.
This is a developing story. News 4 will update this story as more information becomes available.
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