INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.– An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) car was among several vehicles that were damaged by somebody throwing rocks or bricks off a bridge on the south side of Indianapolis early Sunday morning.
The officer reported objects striking his patrol car as he was driving under a CSX Railroad bridge over the 2000 of Madison Avenue just before 6 a.m. Sunday. Two other civilian drivers reported the same thing as rocks or bricks landed on their cars in the same area around the same time.
The officer and the other two drivers said they saw two white male subjects on the bridge at the time the bricks were thrown down onto traffic. It’s not known if the individuals are adults or juveniles.
“This is extremely reckless behavior,” said IMPD Officer James Gillespie. “It could go through a windshield, it could kill someone. Or cause that driver to lose control and wreck into somebody else or a pedestrian in the area.”
Evidence photos showed the damage to the police car did not appear to be extensive, but the sudden jolt of a heavy object hitting a moving vehicle could easily lead to a deadly accident, Gillespie said.
“Which means it’s not just a slap on the wrist, it’s not just a vandalism case,” Gillespie said. “At that point in time, becomes a homicide investigation, which is very serious stuff.”
The incident comes less than a month after two juveniles, ages 13 and 15, were arrested and accused of damaging at least eight vehicles by throwing rocks from a nearby pedestrian bridge over Madison Avenue. In that case, security video from a nearby business helped detectives track the juveniles down. It is not known if any businesses have images of the railroad crossing bridge.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the same people or somebody different that’s responsible for this, it’s completely reckless,” Gillespie said. “It’s something that is very concerning to us. It’s very concerning to the community.”
Last month, a plastic bag of spaghetti was enough to smash through the windshield of a UPS truck as the driver was passing under the State Road 227 overpass on I-70 near Richmond.
Police are asking drivers to keep their eyes open while driving on Madison Avenue on the south side of Indianapolis, and to report anybody seen hanging out near the railroad crossing bridge.
“When it comes to juveniles, if they are responsible for this, not only is the hammer of justice going to come down on them, but it needs to be the hammer of justice from the parents,” Gillespie said.
