Plymouth light pole accident possibly could have been prevented

PLYMOUTH, Ind. --- A Pilgrim Lane Shopping Plaza employee, Alex Blum, says he witnessed a light pole falling on William Allbee Friday afternoon. Allbee’s family tells ABC 57 that he died in the hospital on Saturday afternoon, but the hospital is waiting on his organs to be harvested before he can officially be pronounced dead.

“I looked over and saw a guy laying on the ground with a red vest and thought, ‘Yeah that’s a tractor supply employee,’” said Blum.

Blum says he and his friends rushed into action to check on Allbee.

“You could tell he got hit on the head from where he was laying, and she handed me a phone and I called 911,” said Blum.

A Valmont employee says he examined the light poles at Pilgrim Plaza after the accident. He says he believe Allbee’s death could have been prevented.

“They need to be replaced, said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous. “That’s just the bottom line or something else is going to happen.”

The employee says that a flaw in the design of the poles is what caused it to fall. He says that because there was no space built in to allow water to escape, the inside of the light poles began to rust and deteriorate.

“They’re in a situation right now where if they were all put up at the same time, which they probably were, they’re all capable of falling right now with any kind of high winds,” said the employee.

ABC 57 reached out to Chase Properties, the owner of Pilgrim Lane Shopping Plaza, but they declined to comment.