Police in Edmonton are turning to the public to help identify the man responsible for throwing items, including a concrete slab, off an overpass on Whitemud Drive Saturday afternoon.
In the first incident, officers were called to Whitemud Drive and 53 Avenue in the city’s southwest around 12:30 p.m.
According to police, a man was standing on the 53 Avenue overpass when he threw a concrete slab into westbound traffic on Whitemud Drive below.
Police said the item struck the passenger side windshield of a grey Subaru Outback. Police believe the man then left, walking east along 53 Avenue.
A man who was a passenger in the Subaru suffered minor injuries but did not require treatment by EMS.
Police said a similar incident happened about an hour later further east, near 99 Street and the Whitemud, at approximately 1:40 p.m.
In that case, police said the roof of a white Buick Enclave was struck by a man on the west side of the 99 Street overpass throwing rocks at cars traveling below.
The driver of the Enclave did not suffer any injuries and police were unable to find the item that struck the vehicle.
Police said in both instances, the drivers described the man as approximately 5’8” to 5’9” with an average build. He was wearing a black hoodie with the hood up. In the second incident, the man was also reportedly wearing a black backpack.
The Edmonton Police Service is looking into whether both cases are related and are asking anyone who witnessed these incidents, or may have dashcam footage, to contact them at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
“Throwing objects at moving vehicles is extremely dangerous and we are lucky that citizens were not seriously injured or killed yesterday,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin Clague with EPS southwest division.
That is exactly what happened more than 20 years ago on a stretch of the Whitemud in south Edmonton.
Robert Stanley, 75, was killed on June 1, 2002, when a boulder the size of a basketball was dropped from a pedestrian bridge and crashed through the windshield of the school bus he was driving. Two teenagers were later arrested and charged with manslaughter.
Anonymous information can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.