- A Toyota Sequoia dangled off a parking lot ledge in Mississippi.
- Bystanders tried to move the vehicle, shifting its center of mass.
- The large SUV tipped over the drop, resulting in minor injuries.
A parking incident in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, went from bad to unrecoverable after two bystanders decided they could push a balanced two-and-a-half-ton SUV back onto solid ground with their hands.
It all started outside a supermarket, where a first-generation Toyota Sequoia ended up hanging over the edge of the lot’s retaining wall, directly above a concrete drainage channel. With its front axle hanging over the drop and its frame resting on the concrete ledge like a giant see-saw, the heavy SUV was immobilized.
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With the driver still trapped inside, two bystanders stepped in to help. Video footage from Instagram user natasha_showers shows one man pushing down on the rear wheel while the other worked the rear hitch to rock the chassis. That rocking wiped out the little counterweight holding the tail down, broke static friction, and sent the Sequoia’s center of mass past the tipping point.
Nose-First Into The Culvert
The Toyota plunged nose-first into the culvert before tumbling onto its roof. The driver had no time to escape going down with the heavy SUV. Emergency crews arrived shortly after, with the Hattiesburg Police and Fire departments, AAA Ambulance Service, and the University of Southern Mississippi Campus Police Department all responding.
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According to WDAM7, the occupant(s) miraculously suffered only minor injuries in the rollover. A protective barrier along the edge of the lot would have prevented the whole incident, and even without one, a tow rig with a winch line would have had the Sequoia back on pavement in minutes.
