TACOMA, Wash. — This story was originally published on mynorthwest.com.
A flying brick from a freeway overpass has put one man in the hospital and another locked up in jail.
It’s just the latest in a series of similar incidents, where objects have been thrown from freeway overpasses in the Tacoma area this year.
Around 10:00 p.m. Saturday evening, 911 dispatchers started receiving reports of a man, possibly in distress, acting erratically on the SR 509 overpass near downtown Tacoma.
Moments later, they received another call that a brick had been thrown from an overpass where SR 509 crosses over I-705.
That brick struck a Mazda CX-5 with two people inside.
It not only landed on the utility vehicle, but also went inside the Mazda, hitting a male passenger in the head, causing serious injuries.
“They’re pretty shaken up,” said Washington State Patrol Public Information Officer Kameron Watts. “It’s just one of those things you don’t expect when you’re rolling down a highway, 60 miles an hour, and a brick hits your windshield and really injures one of your passengers or you.”
He says the brick was tossed near the off-ramp from State Route 509, just east of 21st Street and Pacific near downtown Tacoma.
“It’s just an unexpected thing,” Watts said. “They were really shaken up and I think any of us would’ve been in a situation like this.”
Troopers quickly made it to the scene and started roaming the area, in search of the man suspected of flinging the brick off the overpass.
An officer located a man they have identified as a suspect and arrested him.
They took him into custody about eight blocks away, in the area of S. 13th St. and Pacific Ave.
Medics arrived and treated the victim at the scene, then transported him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
“Fortunately, no one died from this incident,” said Trooper Watts. “We’ve had circumstances in the past, similar circumstances, where people have died from this and we’re glad that didn’t happen.”
The Washington State Patrol says the suspect is likely facing charges of 2nd and 3rd-degree assault and malicious mischief.
The problem of potentially deadly objects being flung from overpasses has plagued highways in the greater Seattle and Tacoma areas for years.
This latest incident comes after several similar debris-tossing episodes in the Tacoma area earlier this year.
On January 9th, someone reportedly chucked cinderblocks at cars driving south on Interstate 5 from the S. Yakima Ave. bridge over the freeway.
That incident damaged at least one car.
That person’s car had to be towed, but no injuries were reported.
That same month, the state patrol says it received several reports of rocks being thrown from overpasses onto I-5 over a long stretch of the freeway, between Fife and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Another driver told police of a similar instance of rocks being tossed from overpasses, near the interchange where I-5 and SR 16 come together.
That man said he was headed to work in Seattle, when he ran over something, and had to pull over to check for damage to his vehicle.
The Washington State Patrol says drivers can help by being vigilant, and contacting police when it appears someone is up to no good on those freeway overpasses.
“If anyone sees suspicious activity, such as when you’re looking at an overpass and someone’s throwing objects off of it, leaning over it, (or) things seem unusual, just call 911and we can go in the area and check and possibly prevent something gravely dangerous from happening,” said Trooper Watts.
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