Rock-throwing spree terrorizes Seattle freeway drivers. What’s up in Tacoma area?
Fast-rising temperatures during this young Puget Sound summer are likely to bring rising levels of reckless behavior and downright stupidity.
Perhaps nothing illustrates this more starkly than the crime wave of rocks being thrown or dropped onto freeways, a trend that’s menacing drivers in our region, primarily the Seattle area. More than 75 have been reported since the start of the year, but the surge in incidents and injuries this month is most alarming.
Washington State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste took the unusual step of issuing a bulletin last Friday, asking for the public’s help in identifying potential culprits. He said charges could range from a misdemeanor to a felony.
And yet the rocks keep flying with growing frequency and audacity.
On Tuesday morning, police were investigating three fresh attacks that left windshields shattered — but nobody injured — at three different spots on Interstate 5 through Seattle. A rock was lobbed onto a semi-truck from an overpass around 3 a.m., followed by two more that struck passing vehicles during rush hour.
Public officials have appropriately deployed a range of resources, from ground units to aircraft patrols to surveillance video, in a joint effort between WSP, Seattle Police and the Washington Department of Transportation.
Even so, suspects have proven elusive; one man riding a bike and wearing a headlamp was mistakenly arrested and released Tuesday morning.
Let’s call it what it is: a form of traffic terrorism that conjures memories of the Beltway Sniper rampage of 2002, though mercifully with nonlethal results to this point. We don’t know how many people are involved, and when (or whether) they’ll be caught.
The Tacoma area can breathe a sigh of relief, apparently spared from the wreckage so far, according to local law enforcement officials.
Tacoma Police Department’s criminal investigation division has no recent rock-throwing reports on record, TPD spokeswoman Wendy Haddow told us. And State Patrol personnel haven’t had reason to turn their attention to the South Sound.
“This unfortunate ‘trend’ has not made its way to Pierce County, the Tacoma area, yet,” Trooper Robert Reyer, WSP spokesman for Pierce and Thurston counties, said via email. “While such incidents happened occasionally in the past, they were usually conducted by younger people who thought throwing smaller or slightly larger rocks onto the freeway was ‘funny’ or a ‘prank.’”
Thank goodness our communities haven’t been targeted by someone more malevolent.
But make no mistake: The tide could turn quickly if copycats come out of hiding on long summer nights. Even rocks thrown while clowning around can do damage, resulting in significant punishment for the thrower. Because gravity is an inexorable force that doesn’t differentiate between criminal and noncriminal intent.
We won’t soon forget the curious case of two young adults dropping fist-sized rocks from a railroad trestle over I-5 near Lakewood in 2009. Detained by police, the 23-year-old man and 18-year-old woman admitted they were playing an ultra-foolish version of strip poker, in which one item of clothing was removed for every headlight they busted.
The woman clearly was losing the game, wearing nothing but underwear when cops found them.
The story, which grabbed national headlines, might seem amusing if not for the toll inflicted: One injured victim, 14 damaged cars (including a WSP cruiser) and 14 charges of second-degree assault.
The couple later pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court and were sentenced to four years in prison.
WSP might consider trotting out cases like this to send a clear message: Acts of violence won’t be taken lightly, no matter how ignorant or impulsive.
What does this mean for the rest of us? We’d do well to help law enforcement by staying alert and reporting dangerous activity — everything from scofflaws lighting illegal fireworks in a dry field, to street racers burning rubber downtown, to people loitering suspiciously on freeway overpasses.
Studies show a correlation between high temperatures and high crime rates, non-aggravated assaults and property crimes in particular.
It’s going to be a long, hot, unpredictable summer in a state eager to let loose after 16 months of COVID-19 lockdowns. We all need to be extra vigilant.
This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 8:00 AM.