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Taking Action for metro Detroit man who says tree threatening family safety

Posted at 11:59 AM, Nov 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-19 11:59:31-05

"Dad, something went through the windshield of your truck" said Hussein Fawaz of what his daughter said looking out their front window.

Fawaz would soon learn a large branch has pierced right through the front of the car. 

The Dearborn Heights resident says he could have never imagined the damage would be so severe -- a accident that would cost him nearly $800.

But it’s far from the first time this tree has struck. That’s because he says this has happened on four different occasions over the past five years.

But it’s the safety of his children that really worries him.

"If I can’t have my kids come out and play outside of their house, what kind of community am I even living in?" said Fawaz. 

Fawaz says he’s been contacting the city on and off with complaints about the tree since 2012.
They just tell you oh, it’s alive. We can’t cut it. Ok don’t cut it but trim it to the point where it is safe..

The tree was trimmed, he says, in the summer of 2016 but the problem remained.
"Just a little gust of wind, and we’ve got branches breaking off" he added. 

7's Taking Action team went looking for answers from the city.

That same afternoon, a representative of the city's Department of Public Works came out to take a look.  He didn't’t want to be on camera but acknowledged that parts of the tree had died and that trimmers would be sent out the following day.

Less than 24 hours later, they were there -- the homeowner showing Channel 7 video of city workers removing the potentially hazardous branches.