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Viral video shows vendor's storm rescue
Video shows Phoenix bank employees pulling a local food vendor and his cart inside to escape severe hail and wind. FOX 10's Jacob Luthi reports.
PHOENIX - As severe weather swept through the Valley last week, employees at a Phoenix bank stepped in to help local food vendor Hilario Cruz Cruz get his customized cart out of the hail and into safety.
The backstory:
Video posted to social media by someone inside a PNC Bank shows an employee helping Cruz Cruz bring his cart inside as strong winds and hail battered the area. The video has since surpassed 1 million views on TikTok, with hundreds of thousands of likes.
"With one hand, I held the door against the strong wind blowing it, and with my other hand I pulled the cart inside. The young man was doing the same on his side. If I had been anywhere else, maybe they wouldn't have been able to help me like that," Cruz Cruz said with the help of a translator.
A week after the storm, Cruz Cruz was back selling elotes and fresh fruit along Peoria Avenue, just off Interstate 17. He travels about 20 miles along his route, preparing his products by hand and starting work early in the morning.
Hilario Cruz Cruz credits longtime customers at a local Phoenix bank for keeping him and his food cart safe from severe wind and hail.
Dig deeper:
Cruz Cruz said the bank employees were familiar with him because they had been buying from his food cart for years.
"They said, ‘He's not going anywhere else, he stays here, and we're bringing the cart inside.’ I said, ‘It won't fit,’ but the manager said, ‘I know it will,’" he said.
After the storm passed, Cruz Cruz said his clothes were soaked, his feet were cold, and he had to navigate downed trees and branches on his way home.
"I deeply appreciate my long-term customers. That's why they didn't leave me outside," Cruz Cruz said. "I am profoundly grateful to the bank manager and employees, because thanks to them nothing bad happened to me."
Hilario Cruz Cruz credits longtime customers at a local Phoenix bank for keeping him and his food cart safe from severe wind and hail.
What's next:
Cruz Cruz said business has been booming since the video went viral.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Hilario Cruz Cruz, a local vendor; a video posted to social media by someone inside a PNC Bank in Phoenix; and past FOX 10 reporting.