Deputies Seek Rock Thrower on Attempted Murder Charges

Richland County deputies are searching for the person responsible for causing damage to vehicles and sending some people to the hospital after throwing rocks from highway overpasses and roadsides.

Police said the suspect will be charged with attempted murder.

"This suspect needs to be apprehended before he kills someone because of this ridiculous act," Sheriff Leon Lott said in a new release.

Since Jan. 12, the Sheriff's Department has received 10 reports — eight of which occurred on Jan. 20 — of an unknown person throwing rocks or pieces of cinder block, according to the release. 

In one of the incidents, on Jan. 12, a driver and her passengers were injuried after the windshield of her car was hit by a rock. 

Police said the victim was driving on Interstate 26 near exit 94 when her windshield was shattered by a large rock. The victims received treatment at a local hospital for injuries to the upper body after being hit by glass and the rock, the release read. 

On Jan. 14, a driver was traveling on Broad River Road at Bookie Richardson Road when his vehicle was hit by a rock, causing major damage to the front of the vehicle, police said.

The incidents on Jan. 20 occurred in the following areas: 

• Broad River Road and Sid Sites Road
• Mt. Vernon Road and the Interstate Overpass
• Broad River at Lowman Barn Road
• I-26 at Broad River Road
• Mount Vernon at Stonehill
• Broad River at Sid Sites Road
• Broad River Road at the 5600 Block
• Mt. Vernon Church Road and Broad River Road

The suspect is described as a white male between the ages of 20 to 35 years old with blonde or brown hair driving a white pickup truck. 

Anyone with any information about the incidents should call Crimestoppers at 1 -888-CRIME-SC.