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Wind topples billboard, pickup truck narrowly evades disaster

Daniel Abitboul, president of StoneTooling.com, said the identity of the driver who was nearly struck by the billboard is unknown.

By Ben Hooper
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NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A California store's security cameras captured the moment strong winds brought down a billboard, narrowly missing a pickup truck pulling out of a parking space.

Daniel Abitboul, president of company StoneTooling.com, said he learned the billboard had been blown off the roof of the company's North Hollywood store Saturday when an employee sent him a photo of the sign resting atop two parked cars with the terse message, "Gusty wind."

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Abitboul said he reviewed the store's security cameras and saw how the falling sign landed on a pair of parked cars and a third vehicle, a pickup truck, narrowly avoided the same fate by pulling out of its parking space just before the sign crashed down.

"The guy was so lucky. We don't know who it is, though," Abitboul told NBC Los Angeles.

The store remained opened following the crash, but the front entrance was closed, and traffic was diverted to the side of the building for safety reasons, Abitboul said.

Wind gusts reached 70 mph in the Los Angeles area Saturday, taking out numerous trees, poles and power lines.

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