Police identify suspects in I-70 brick throwing probe

State police in Belle Vernon said they have “identified suspects” in two brick throwing incidents last month along Interstate 70 that caused a minor injury to one truck driver near the North Belle Vernon interchange.

On July 7, state police reported bricks were thrown at two eastbound tractor-trailers.

One driver suffered minor injuries from the shattered glass of his windshield. The second driver was not hurt.

Belle Vernon station commander Lt. Steven P. Driscoll reported Wednesday that the propulsion of missiles investigation is ongoing, but investigators have identified suspects.

“We do anticipate filing criminal charges in those cases that occurred in North Belle Vernon,” Driscoll said.

The status of those cases came to light as troopers were dispatched early Tuesday to mile marker 52 in South Huntingdon Township, also in Westmoreland County, for a report from another truck driver whose rig windshield was damaged by an “unknown solid object” on the highway.

Trooper Zachary Casini reported the incident occurred about just before 6 a.m. Tuesday, but troopers could not locate any suspicious materials in the area. The truck driver was not injured.

“We believe the early morning Wednesday incident was accidental caused by road debris being lifted from another vehicle. It was an accident and there was no criminal intent,” Driscoll said.

However, he said investigators are continuing to develop their case against the suspects in the July 7 incidents.

“Again, we do expect to be filing charges in that case,” he said.

In 2015, three boys were arrested for throwing rocks and stones at passing westbound vehicles from an overpass on Interstate 70 in North Belle Vernon. The overpass was off Ferncliff Drive. At least six vehicles were damaged.

No one was hurt.

Incidents of people hurling objects at vehicles have occurred on the busy highway since at least 1995, when a reward was offered for the capture of the “I-70 Maniac” and police patrols were beefed up between the New Stanton and Route 201 exits because a motorist was seriously injured.

In Union County, four men were sentenced to prison in 2015 for throwing a rock from an overpass that struck an Ohio woman, causing a severe brain injury. Police said the men threw the rock from an overpass along Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania in July 2014.