Concrete Hurled From Freeway Bridge Leaves Driver Critically Hurt

It’s a driver’s nightmare: Out of the dark sky, a rock comes crashing into your car as you travel along a busy freeway.

About 15 minutes after picking up a 1984 red Corvette from an auto dealer Monday night, Kurt R. Meyering was struck in the head by a nine-pound chunk of concrete that smashed through the fiberglass sunroof.

The rock, a little larger than a softball, apparently was thrown from the freeway overpass at Pershing Drive and the B Street off-ramp as Meyering and his girlfriend drove north on Interstate 5, said Detective Terence Degelder of the San Diego Police Department.

With Meyering unconscious and bleeding profusely, Jane Casey grabbed the wheel of the car in a vain attempt to gain control of it, Degelder said. The car traveled about 200 yards before crashing into a center divider. Casey was not hurt.

Sounded ‘Like a Gunshot’

Meyering, 30, of San Carlos, underwent more than 3 1/2 hours of surgery. He was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday night at Mercy Hospital, nursing supervisor Tom Banszak said.

Casey told police that the crashing rock sounded “like a gunshot or an explosion.” Meyering immediately “slumped over at the wheel,” Casey said.

Degelder, who is handling the investigation, described the incident as an attempted murder. He said police have no leads and that no witnesses have come forward.

“You have to know that (the stone) is a lethal weapon,” he said Tuesday. “With a rock that size, you have to . . . reasonably expect that someone could be seriously hurt.”

Unsuccessful Search

Police believe the stone was thrown either by a pedestrian or from a vehicle about 8:30 p.m.

The overpass--which is not a pedestrian crossing--was closed for about an hour Tuesday morning as detectives searched unsuccessfully for clues, Degelder said.

Investigators at the scene Monday night determined that the cement chunk had not broken off the overpass and fallen.

As Meyering’s car swerved out of control, another car driven by a San Diego woman was struck by an object as it traveled under the same overpass, Degelder said. The woman later noticed a dent in the roof of her car.

Other Incidents

Four rock-throwing incidents have occurred over the past couple of weeks near the Pershing overpass on I-5, Degelder said. No one was injured.

Alex Calica, an accident investigator with the California Highway Patrol office in San Diego, said Monday’s incident appeared to be an isolated case. His office has not received any reports of freeway rock throwings in at least a year, Calica added.

Scattered stone-throwing incidents on local roadways have occurred over the past few years, he acknowledged, but investigations determined that most of them involved “juvenile pranksters.”

Shirley Weber, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation, said that agency had no reports of objects being thrown in the area where Monday’s incident occurred.

She said that while there are no screens on the Pershing overpass, most pedestrian overpasses and those near schools are equipped with the protective fences.

Police said a reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the rock thrower. Anyone with information is asked to call 235-TIPS.