Prices aren't the only thing falling at Wal-Mart

BOB MARTINSON/Frontiersman reporter

A Wasilla man was seriously injured Monday after two large letters of Wal-Mart's exterior sign fell on him during high winds.

Pat Holsclaw, 29, suffered a puncture wound to the leg and a dislocated knee at about 1:20 p.m. that day while leaving the store through its south exit. He went to the AIC facility in Wasilla, where he was treated and released.The couple went to Providence Alaska Medical Center on Thursday for further evaluation of his leg injuries.

"My husband and I were walking out of the store and I was ahead of him and he saw me struggling with the cart in the wind and I was getting pushed back toward the building and my husband was trying to sort of steer me back into the building, when the 'L' and the 'T' fell off of the building, said Holsclaw's wife, Michelle. "We think it was the 'L' that struck him, and the 'T' shattered into the ground and just exploded. It all happened really fast."

Michelle Holsclaw said a Wal-Mart employee was apparently helping an older couple that was struggling to walk into the wind get back into the store when her husband was hit.

Mr. Holsclaw's jeans were ripped where he received the puncture wound above the knee.

The event was witnessed by several bystanders, including the employee, the other couple, Elsie and Gilbert Tipton, and other customers.

Once inside the building, Pat Holsclaw sat on a bench and was immediately surrounded by Wal-Mart associates, Michelle Holsclaw said. "They all heard his knee pop when he got it to pop back in," she said.

Elsie Tipton said the wind was blowing so hard people were having trouble pushing their carts outside.

"So we turned back and all of the sudden we heard this loud crack and pieces of the sign came down and hit Mr. Holsclaw and I lost my hat and everybody was running and hollering and it was just terrible," she said. "I think it would have hit [Holsclaw] in the head, but he came toward us and kind of ducked toward the building, so it hit him around the knees."

Tipton said a Wal-Mart employee was helping people move out of the wind and possibly to help people get their carts out to their cars.

A Wal-Mart corporate spokesman on Friday said the Holsclaws filed a claim with Wal-Mart's insurance company.

"They have been processing the claim, and it is our understanding they have had discussions with the couple," the spokesman said. "It is up to the insurance company as to whether or not it is a liability of the store, or if there are certain weather-related causes that could be considered to be an act of God. If they feel that they have not been in contact with our insurance company, with this situation, we will certainly check into the matter and make sure that they are in touch with each other."

An assistant manager at the Wasilla Wal-Mart store, who was working at the time of the incident and declined to give her name, said that at the time of the incident, the northern entrance of the store's façade was closed due to the wind and customers were using the store's southern entrance.