WSP pursues leads to take down ‘rock thrower’ damaging cars on SR-900

Washington State Patrol (WSP) is actively searching for an individual (or group of individuals) allegedly throwing debris at drivers on SR-900 between Issaquah and Renton.

Over the last month, five cars were reportedly hit with rocks and bottles along that approximately one-mile-stretch of highway, according to state troopers. Many windows were shattered alongside other damages to the vehicle’s exterior.

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“I know that community is all over this and I know there’s a photo out there of an individual that they believe is the one doing it,” WSP Trooper Rick Johnson said. “We want to talk to anybody that’s been a victim of this, of course, but no one has observed this individual throw anything. So we didn’t have any probable cause to arrest the individual because there’s no one that witnessed anything.”

The local community has responded to these incidents by taking to social media to share photos of the man they say is behind the attacks, while also placing signs throughout the area warning drivers of the incidents.

Fortunately, no serious injuries have been reported.

“This is reckless endangerment, at the very least, and we want to put an end to this,” Johnson said. “We respond to and investigate every report that we get and we’re just hoping that putting this out there will encourage people to go, ‘hey I saw this,’ ‘yeah, I remember this a couple of weeks ago, I saw this,’ and give us a call.”

It allegedly started with the suspect throwing water bottles, leaving small cracks in windshields, but has since escalated to the suspect throwing rocks and other, heavier debris.

Troopers are currently following up on leads of a possible suspect through social media, as of this reporting.

“I’m assuming the individual is picking up whatever they see alongside the road, and for whatever reason, is throwing it at vehicles, so we obviously want to put this to rest so we don’t have any more damage and potential injuries or collisions,” Johnson said. “If you have something to hit your windshield, it’s going to obviously startle you and could cause you to go off the road or strike another vehicle.”