HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A man driving on Interstate 95 in Henrico County said he saw two people standing on a highway overpass throwing rocks at cars below. One of the rocks hit the man’s 2013 Toyota Camry as he traveled under the Chamberlayne Avenue overpass and smashed his windshield Thursday morning. Brian Parker, 42, said he swerved after the rock shattered his windshield.
Rock smashes windshield on I-95 (PHOTO: Brian Parker)
“My main fear was maintaining control of the vehicle,” he said. “I started to swerve. It was a good thing there was not a car in the other lane.”
Parker called police from the side of the road. He described the rocker throwers as a white male and a white female.
“The female had black hair and was wearing a black tank-top,” he said. “The white male had black hair and dark shirt.”
Parker said he saw the pair throw several rocks, but was not sure what happened after his car was hit.
“My main concern and the reason I want my story heard is to maintain awareness out there,” he said. “This could have ended up in a totally different situation.
Someone could have been injured or killed.”
Rock smashes windshield on I-95 (PHOTO: Brian Parker)
Parker was not hurt, however his windshield must be replaced and scratches on his car hood repaired.
The rock throwing incident happened Thursday morning at around 11 a.m., Parker said. When contacted about the incident, a Henrico Police spokesman said they had not developed any suspects at this time and urged drivers to call police at 804-501-5000 if they saw anything suspicious.
Incident on I-95 in Chesterfield
Earlier this week, a woman came forward with a similar story. She said someone threw a rock at her SUV on Interstate 95 near Willis Road early Monday morning. She said the rock came from a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.
“I was just passing the Willis Road exit, there was an oncoming car in the southbound lanes, the left hand lane, and I see something leaving the car, and I see something white come flying at my car,” the woman, who is afraid for her safety and spoke to WTVR CBS 6 under the condition she could remain anonymous, said. “If I hadn’t taken my foot off the gas, this one would have come through my windshield, I feel sure.”
The rock slammed into the woman’ s SUV and became wedged under the hood.
Four months ago, the same woman said a similar incident happened to her and her son along Interstate 95 near the Bells Road exit. That time, the object smashed their windshield.
“Whoever’s doing this, they need to stop, someone’s really going to get hurt,” she said.
State Police Response
While Virginia State Police did not handle the most recent incident on Interstate 95, Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Vick said similar incidents have been reported up and down I-95 from Willis Road in Chesterfield to Parham Road in Henrico.
“We’ve had several calls lately for incidents occurring on the interstate,” Sgt. Vick said. “We’ve increased patrols in the area.”
He stressed if something like this were to happen to you, quickly and safely call #77 on your mobile phone to report the incident so investigators can get a better idea about where the incident occurred.
