THIS IS PROBABLY the last thing you’d expect to happen if you were pulled over for not having headlights on.

A cop in Centerville, Iowa was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he got out of his squad car last Wednesday night to check out the dark car. He leaned into the window to speak to the driver, only to be met with a falling tree.

Well, it’s one way to get out of a ticket.

Officer Jeremy Veach was recorded on the squad car’s dash-cam as he was knocked to the ground while his colleague called for back-up. Luckily for him, the car took most of the impact, but Centerville Chief of Police Tom Demry told the Daily Iowegian that “It’s a wonder he’s not dead”.

Veach poses in front of the fallen tree

Speaking to KCCI-TV, Veach said that he had a lucky escape.

I was picking tree bark out of my hair, it was in my ears. It could have been a lot worse than it was.

The hit was described as a ‘freak of nature incident’, as there were no particularly high winds and the tree was simply rotting.

The driver of the car was a woman and escaped with minor injuries and damage to her car, and as an added bonus, NO TICKET.

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