A Calgary man is now in possession of a rock that could have changed his life forever.
On Oct. 30, Warren Flemming was driving south on Deerfoot Trail. He said that just seconds after driving under the Seton Boulevard overpass, a mandarin-sized rock was sitting in his back seat.
“I thought I was rear-ended,” said Flemming.
“I thought it was definitely a rear-ending situation. I didn’t know what was going on, I just felt the clunks, felt the shatter. I felt glass hitting my back of my head.”
He said the rock was thrown from the overpass, shattering his rear window and causing more than $3,500 in damage. When he pulled over to the side of the road, he made eye contact with the person he believes threw the rock.
“I looked up at the bridge just to see a child — probably 11 (or) 12 years old — look over the bridge, then ducking behind the bridge as soon as I looked up,” Flemming said.
“I kept staring for a while. He looked over the bridge again, saw me looking at him and then he bolted.”
Flemming owns Paw Butler dog boarding in Rocky View. Because of his line of work, on any given day several dogs could have been in the back of his truck and may have been injured.
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But that’s not his worst fear — he said that would have been if his three boys were riding with him.
“I’ve got a one-and-a-half-year-old, a six-year-old and an 11-year-old, whom all would have been in the back seat if I had taken them with me,” Flemming said. “And my one-and-a-half-year-old being rear-facing, he could have been hit right in the face with this rock.”
According to other drivers who live in the area, this isn’t the first time a rock has been hurled from this overpass.
About a year ago, Kayla Walsh said the sunroof on her Toyota Sienna was blown out.
“Anytime we drive under an overpass, I look at what’s going (on) above before I drive under. Its just instinctively now,” she said.
In a statement, Calgary police said “throwing objects from an overpass is not a fun prank or experiment.”
“It has the potential to cause serious or even fatal injuries to vehicle occupants or pedestrians,” the CPS added. “The actions of intentionally throwing a solid object from an elevated platform could result in criminal charges.
“The severity of the charges would be dependent on the outcome of the act, and can range anywhere from mischief to homicide.”
While Flemming said kids will be kids, throwing a rock into traffic is not acceptable.
“Think five seconds ahead,” he said. “That rock could have cost me my life.”
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