DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- Investigators are searching for clues after one driver was injured and a number of drivers' windshields were damaged a long a stretch of I-85 in Dinwiddie County this week.
Between Saturday and Thursday at least six people have come forward to report damage ranging from shattered windshields to a damaged sunroof and a dented front end.
“I saw it for a split second before it hit. I’m pretty sure it was a rock. It was about the size of a baseball," said Alan "BB" Willoughby. “I’ve never had one blow the inside of the window. I mean it covered me with glass. And I just froze and luckily didn't jerk the wheel."
One victim said it sounded like a gun when off when the massive rock hit his windshield on I-85 near Dupuy Road overpass close to the Petersburg-Dinwiddie line.
The driver of a bus was injured when a rock smashed through vehicle's windshield.
“We discovered that a rock penetrated through the windshield and hit him in the chest. It was a rock about the size of a baseball and the driver thought he had been shot,” Dinwiddie Sheriff Duck Adams said.
Adams had investigators walking along the side of the interstate Friday looking for evidence.
"This is a very serious incident. Somebody could get killed or seriously injured," Adams warned.
Area auto repair shops have been busy.
“Normal rocks and debris off the road wouldn’t do something like this,” David Walwer with Virginia Auto Glass said.
Walwer credited safety glass as the reason more people have not been injured. That's because most modern windshields contain laminate safety glass, which prevents the glass from shattering when it is struck.
If your vehicle has been damaged, contact the Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Office at 804-469-4550.
