CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. – A woman is recovering in the ICU after her car was hit by a picnic table-sized boulder and flipped on a highway in Chesterfield County on Friday.
Chesterfield Police said officers were called to the 14800 block of Route 360 just after 4:30 a.m.
CBS 6 spoke to Ashley Harris, who said it was her mother that was driving the car that was hit by the boulder. The crash sent her mother to the hospital with several injuries.
“There is a back fracture, there are contusions, there are bruises, there are bumps and scratches and just a whole lot right now,” said Harris. She added her mother is currently recovering in the ICU at Chippenham Hospital and is expected to be there for several days.
Harris said her mother told her that she was driving into Richmond along Route 360, but as she approached the Woodlake Village Parkway, she noticed what she thought was a bag.
“Like a brown paper bag coming at her and her thought was, ‘What is this?’” said Harris, who added she believed the boulder landed on the hood of her mom’s car. "And when it hit the car, she just didn’t know after that. The airbags deployed. Everything was all in the air. She flipped over quite a few times.”
The car landed on its roof and Harris said her mother started to smell gasoline and was worried about the possibility of the fire, so she got out of the car herself.
“She actually undid the seatbelt, fell down, and climbed out of the passenger side,” said Harris. She added that her mother then called to tell her what happened. “It was the most scariest thing you’d ever want to see. To get a phone call from your mother saying that she’s been in an accident.”
As to how the boulder ended up in the roadway, both the Virginia Department of Transportation and Harris have the same working theory.
"We’re thinking it came off a tractor-trailer or a flatbed. Something of that nature,” said Harris, who added she is asking anyone who saw something to please contact police. “If it was your mom out there upside down, you’d want someone to stop or someone to say something, like, ‘Hey, I saw that person.’ You know? ‘Hey, my boss is missing that rock.’”
Harris has created a GoFundMe account to
raise money for "incidentals that insurance won't cover."
If you see breaking news, and can do so safely, shoot a photo or video and send it to CBS 6. You can also upload photos to our Facebook page or email pics@wtvr.com from your phone.
