More large rocks thrown from I-5 overpass in Seattle
Oct 18, 2016, 7:21 AM | Updated: 10:37 pm
The sky continues to fall and it hit close to home for KIRO Radio. Host Gee Scott is the latest to witness a rock being thrown from an overpass on I-5. And he had a front row seat … actually, a back seat.
“I’m in an Uber on I-5 south and we are just north of the West Seattle Bridge, exit 163, when all of a sudden I hear this loud ‘boom,’” Scott said. “I jolted. The Uber driver screamed a little bit. He’s looking at me in the rearview mirror, I’m looking at him. And I see that his windshield is cracked really bad … he definitely is going to have to get a new windshield.”
Scott hosts a show on 710 ESPN Seattle. He just left the studio Tuesday afternoon when it happened. He’s the latest to experience rocks thrown from I-5 through Seattle. State troopers and Seattle police have been investigating a series of similar incidents on I-5 since Sunday — a total of four, KIRO 7 reports.
Scott said they didn’t see anyone on the overpass above them. But whatever it was, it wasn’t some small pebble, and it couldn’t have come off another vehicle. Looking at the photo Scott took of the windshield, if it smashed through the glass — like with previous cars — it would have likely struck the driver.
“It must have been like a brick, or a boulder … it was at least the size of a softball for sure,” Scott said. “The Uber driver, he almost wrecked. He swerved a little bit. It’s a good thing he was in control and we were safe.”
So are there folks throwing Big Rocks onto the freeway? This just happened to me on I-5 by West Seattle Bridge. Inside an Uber.. pic.twitter.com/7xYlo2uE3S
— Gee Scott 710ESPN (@TheGeeScott) October 18, 2016
More rocks thrown from I-5 overpass
One such incident happened to Gordie Mjelde when a rock missed his head by inches after it smashed through his windshield. He was traveling at about 55 miles per hour going northbound on I-5. The rock passed between the seats, shattered the console and ended up in the back seat.
“This thing could have killed me,” Mjelde told KIRO 7, holding the rock. “An 8.5-pound rock, and I’m traveling 50-60 mph, coming through the windshield.”
Mjelde said the rock had hit a few inches over, he’d be dead. He was able to keep control of his car and exited at Mercer.
Three cars have recently been hit by rocks and one car ran over a large rock in Seattle, according to the Washington State Patrol. Whoever threw the rocks has not been found.
“… this can happen to you, because I never thought in a million years this could happen to me,” Mjelde said.
“I’m lucky,” he said. “I should go and buy a lotto ticket. That’s how lucky I am.”
KIRO 7 contributed to this article.
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