Police are looking for an unidentified man who has been throwing items at moving vehicles for at least a year on a well-traveled highway east of Gilroy.
Between February 2018 and February 2019, the California Highway Patrol’s Hollister-Gilroy office has received several reports of objects being thrown on SR-152 between Casa de Fruta Parkway and Dinosaur Point in unincorporated Santa Clara County, according to a press release from the CHP. In each case, the incidents occurred during darkness.
The suspect throwing the objects has been described as a middle-aged Caucasian male, with a thin build and shoulder-length hair, authorities said. CHP is “actively investigating” multiple incidents related to the unknown suspect.
Anyone who thinks their vehicle was struck by an object on SR-152 in this area and during the specified time frame is asked to file a police report with the CHP office, if they have not already done so, authorities urged.
Police are also asking anyone with information about the incidents or the subject throwing the items, to contact CHP Officer Amy Tritenbach at (408) 848-2324, or by email at kt*********@ch*.gov. Witnesses may remain anonymous. Anyone who thinks they are a victim can also file a report by contacting Tritenbach.
In August 2018, the mother of a family of five contacted this newspaper to describe an incident in which their vehicle was struck by rocks in the location identified by the CHP press release. The woman, a Gustine resident, said she pulled over as soon as she realized that her vehicle had been struck while traveling east on SR-152, just east of Casa de Fruta.
The woman added that at least four other vehicles had pulled over about the same time, as they apparently had also just been hit by thrown objects. The vehicles suffered varying degrees of damage, including broken windows. No injuries were reported in the August incidents. Several of the vehicles were carrying small children.