KING COUNTY, Wash. — Drivers are concerned after multiple reports of a man throwing rocks at cars along state Route 900 between Renton and Issaquah.
Washington State Patrol (WSP) is investigating. The agency said if a car got hit by a rock on the roadway it could cause a crash or someone could be seriously hurt.
“It came out of nowhere, it literally came out of nowhere,” said Danny Engels.
Engels was driving back from a doctor’s appointment in Issaquah Tuesday when he was caught by surprise.
“I saw a guy walking on the side of the road and all of a sudden it made a loud bang and I had glass all over me and apparently that guy just threw a rock at my car,” said Engels.
The rock caused major damage including a smashed windshield and glass all over the passenger side of the car. The car he was driving is a loaner while his is in the shop. Engels said he's lucky he wasn't hurt.
“It hit the passenger's side so I wasn’t really injured. I’m luckily an experienced driver so I didn’t slam on the breaks and kept driving and found a safe place to pull over,” said Engels.
Engels immediately called 911 and a trooper came out and looked for who threw the rock but wasn’t able to find him. In the last two weeks, Washington State Patrol said it received four reports of someone throwing things at cars. All in the area of state Route 900 right outside Renton city limits, a road that’s heavily traveled.
“There's so many families and people driving down the road here and you hear reports daily and it could happen at any given moment that he just decides to throw a rock again I guess,” Engels said.
People who live in the area told KING 5 they often see the man they believe is responsible and are hoping he's caught quickly so they can feel safe on the road.
“Let's make sure that no one else is getting hit and no one else is getting damaged because who knows, someone could get hurt or potentially killed on that road,” Engels said.
WSP said it only has a vague description of the man. Troopers said people have come forward with who they believe is responsible, but they were not witnesses or victims of the crime. The agency is asking victims to come forward to document damage and get a better suspect description.