Homeless camp to be removed after rocks thrown onto Washington interstate smash cars
After several vehicles were struck and damaged by rocks and debris thrown onto a Washington freeway, homeless encampments connected to at least one of the incidents will be removed, officials said.
Rock-throwing arrests
The most-recent incident took place around 4 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 90 near Rainier Avenue in Seattle, King County’s 209th rock-throwing incident in 2021, Washington State Patrol Trooper Chase Van Cleave told McClatchy News in an email.
A 41-year-old man was arrested in Tuesday’s incident, Trooper Rick Johnson tweeted.
On Tuesday morning, a Mercer Island Fire Department ambulance transporting a patient was hit with “intentionally thrown” concrete debris on I-90 near Rainier Avenue, according to a news release from the Mercer Island Police Department.
An arrest was made but police did not give further details.
A 39-year-old man was arrested July 14 for throwing “numerous items” onto I-90 near Rainier Avenue, according to a news release from the Seattle Police Department.
Two other men have been charged in connection with rock or debris throwing near Rainier Avenue, according to Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office:
Nicholas Sousa, 35, was arrested July 10 and charged with reckless endangerment, third-degree malicious mischief, and second-degree criminal trespass.
- Edgar Rios, 35, was arrested July 5 and charged with four counts of second-degree assault.
A 40-year-old woman was arrested July 1 on a reckless endangerment charge for throwing rocks on Rainier Avenue, Norman Street and Poplar Place South, McNerthney said.
One of the arrests involved a suspect who was connected to a nearby homeless encampment, according to Van Cleave.
Aside from the I-90 incidents, another individual, identified as Abdinasir Audeer, was accused Tuesday of throwing rocks onto Interstate 5, McNerthney said.
Planned encampment removal
The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to remove encampments as a result of this string of incidents, Van Cleave said. One encampment at the Benvenuto Viewpoint and another adjacent to the westbound I-90 ramp to Rainier Avenue will be removed Thursday, WSDOT Regional Administrator Mike Cotten said in a news release sent to McClatchy.
“The debris and rock throwing in proximity to specific encampments off of I-90 and I-5 is a public safety threat that we take very seriously and must be addressed immediately,” Cotten said in the release.
The City of Seattle ”will assist with debris removal, provide outreach to the people living in the right of way to advise them of what options and resources are available, and will offer storage of personal possessions if needed,” according to the release.
“The City of Seattle is working in partnership with WSDOT to address the urgent and serious public safety concerns at multiple encampments along 1-90,” a spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement sent to McClatchy News.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 12:39 PM.