Tree falls in Malden, injuring truck passenger

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent

A tree fell on two unsuspecting motorists yesterday on Pleasant Street, injuring one person, police and a witness said.
 
Officers responded to a call for a motor vehicle accident Wednesday about 11:45 a.m. to find the downed tree, estimated by a witness to be at least 80 feet tall, crushing the hood and cab of a black Ford pickup truck in the west-bound lane.

Fire, police, and paramedics responded, Trimpop said. No one was seriously injured, although the truck’s passenger, identified by police as Michael Nary, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for what was described as non-life-threatening injuries, said Malden Police Captain Tom Swanson.

The operator of the truck, identified by police as Richard Lefebvre of Tewksbury, declined medical assistance, Swanson said. There was no answer yesterday at a phone number listed for Lefebvre.

Limbs from the massive tree stretched across the road, striking a white van driven by Tim Trimpop, 56, of Lowell. Trimpop said he was traveling east on Pleasant Street (Route 60) in the van. The next thing he saw was leaves, he recalled.

“I was going to a client down the street … and the next thing I know, I was in a sea of green,” said Trimpop, who works as a computer repairman,. a telephone interview Thursday. “It wasn’t like it came down in front of me, it was right on us.”

Trimpop said this is the second company van destroyed by a falling tree in as many years. The first van was crushed during an ice storm when a branch fell on it in his driveway, also damaging his personal vehicle, he said.

"I don’t seem to have much luck with trees."