Kent man says someone threw rock, shattering his windshield on I-5
Jun 5, 2023, 8:51 AM | Updated: 9:58 am
The rock a Kent man said broke his windshield. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
A Kent man captured video of someone running onto Interstate 5 and deliberately throwing a rock at his windshield, as he drove by. Now he wants more done to keep unsuspecting drivers safe.
This is the most recent case in what has been a rash of rock-throwing incidents on I-5 in the last two years.
The incident Saturday night happened near the Yesler Street exit and it could have ended in disaster. These rock-throwing incidents have been plaguing drivers and it seemed that maybe they had stopped. But Saturday night, a driver’s dash camera captured someone doing something we have never seen before, stepping onto the freeway itself, then throwing a rock at him.
In the light of this day after the night before, it is a startling sight. The passenger side windshield of the car was smashed.
“It’s shredded right here,” said Soni, as he put his hand through the hole. “And the little sandglass pieces everywhere on me.”
Hours earlier, Soni was driving south on I-5 approaching the Yesler Street exit, his camera rolling. It was at about 10:50 p.m. Saturday.
“And I noticed somebody is heading like into my lane kind of,” Soni said. “I thought he was gonna jump in front of my car.”
He honked and then swerved to avoid the man when it happened.
“Suddenly, I noticed just ‘boom,’” he said, “just throw it at my windshield.”
Lawsuit alleging ex-deputy falsified arrest report settled for $250K
It was only when he slowed down the video that he could actually see it more clearly. A man throwing a rock appeared to aim directly at him.
“His target is here,” he says, pointing to the driver’s side windshield. “But because I just turned my car a little bit and slow(ed) down, he missed a little bit. But still, it’s going to hurt the driver.”
This is only the most recent in a string of rock-throwing incidents on I-5 and I-90, too. At least one suspect was convicted and served time in the King County Jail. He has since been released.
“I’m lucky,” said Soni. “With blessings, I survive today.”
What happened Saturday night has this single father of two thinking about “what if?”
“If it hit here, it kind of goes in the driver’s eyes,” he says, pointing to the shattered windshield. “Somebody could lose his eyesight permanently or, it’s gonna be a disaster.”
He says when he stopped, he noticed another car had pulled over, too.
The trooper told him that person had also been hit. The Washington State Patrol told KIRO 7 that on Sunday afternoon, the driver ran over some debris and ended up with a flat tire, perhaps from debris left by the same person.
Soni says the authorities need to do something to keep people off the freeway. After all, he could have been blinded, or worse.
