Man hurt by falling tree limb in Richmond

A Henrico County man was struck and injured by a falling tree limb yesterday morning as he rode his moped toward downtown in the 4200 block of Monument Avenue.

Richmond police are not identifying the man, who suffered multiple internal injuries and several broken bones in the accident on his way to work. The injuries were not life-threatening, but he remains in treatment at VCU Medical Center, police said.

A sizable limb fell from a towering pin oak in the public right of way and struck the man and his moped at 7:07 a.m. He and the bike then slid under a parked sport utility vehicle. Witnesses estimated that it took fire and rescue workers about 45 minutes to pull him from beneath the vehicle to transport to the hospital.

The incident presents another side of what has been a heated debate over Richmond's policy for identifying and removing trees from public property. Critics have said the city has been too quick to cut seemingly healthy trees, but city officials have emphasized the need to protect public safety and property from hazardous trees.

The pin oak on Monument Avenue was not on Richmond's list of hazardous trees, said Sharon North, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works. "We had no prior notice that this tree was a hazard to anyone."

However, North said a neighbor had called the city with a complaint about the tree on June 1. The city has 10 working days to respond to the call and determine whether the tree poses a safety hazard, she said. "We were still within the time frame."

The eastbound lanes of Monument Avenue were closed until about 1 p.m. to allow police to investigate the crash and public works crews to remove the shattered limb and prune the tree.

The city's Division of Urban Forestry is assessing the tree to determine whether to remove it entirely, North said.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .