A giant set of golden arches outside a McDonald’s in eastern Arizona toppled in high winds Wednesday, crushing a Naperville couple’s Chevy Trailblazer as they sat inside the parked vehicle.

Retirees Russell and Carolyn Janke suffered multiple injuries. They had stopped at the McDonald’s on the Navajo Nation reservation in Window Rock as they were making their way back to suburban Chicago from their winter home near Tucson. Navajo acting Police Chief Steven Nelson said winds hit 60 mph Wednesday, causing the sign to be blown down from atop a pole across the street from the restaurant.

“It was a freak accident,’’ Nelson said.

Carolyn Janke, 68, was trapped inside the SUV and had to be cut out of the vehicle by rescue crews, Nelson said. Carolyn Janke, who was knocked unconscious, has a fractured spinalcolumn and a fractured sternum, her daughter-in-law said. Russell Janke, 70, a retired engineer, was hit in the head and “has over 70 stitches,” she said.

Ann Janke said she’s desperately trying to get more information about the accident. “How could that sign not be properly secured? That’s what I want to know,” she said. “I’m mad. You don’t think you park under a sign . . . and giant golden arches are going to come smashing down on you.” Nelson said the incident was still under investigation but said,“We have not had any reports of any problems with the sign.’’

But Richardson Laughing, who works nearby, said he has been worried about the sign toppling for a while. “I’ve been working here two years and I’ve seen it blow back and forth in the wind,’’ Laughing told the Navajo Times newspaper. “I’ve been saying to my wife that it’s going to blow over sometime.’’