Authorities believe someone threw or dropped a brick that crashed through a car window Friday night on State Highway 242 in Concord, killing a 63-year-old Antioch grandmother.
The woman, whose name has not been released, was sitting in the front passenger seat of a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta when the brick smashed through the window at about 9:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
The car had been headed north on 242 near State Route 4 and the 20-year-old male driver pulled over after the incident and called 911, the CHP said.
Emergency crews provided livesaving measures but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver and two children in the backseat were not injured.
It’s not yet known where the brick came from and the case is under investigation.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the Contra Costa CHP in Martinez at (925) 646-4980.
49 comments
I think Cal Trans needs to set up some cameras around that overpass, like now.
concordian,I don’t think on the spot cameras can do any better there at the over pass this was at night is hard to see at night if some trows something at night, the only way to fix this is build the over pass there higher wall there, cause if you see when you drive on the spot there you can see the bottom free way and you can see the cars that are driving espía you are on a higher vehicle, can some one tell me if I’m correct or?, I live right behind the over pass so I hear all the traffic there,
I totally agree with the CHP, I think someone trow it from the top of the over pass heading towards the east side direction, the over pass needs to build some higher walls there just so this don’t happen again, please do something fix the over pass higher walls
I think whoever would do such a dumb thing will regret it for all of their life. Just one moment of stupidity. One moment of this will be fun. On the other hand it could be a person who regrets nothing. Strange life. Sometime it sucks.
If it was thrown on purpose, I can only say some people have a warmed sense of fun.
Sorry word should have been warped not warmed.
Some teenagers don’t think. They just are not that bright. If caught he or she will deserve everything he or she gets. Maybe deserves more you never know what punishment will be anymore.
The fact it happened at 9:30 p.m. means it’s less likely to have bounced off a flatbed truck, but I’ve seen that happen in the daytime many times. All kinds of junk falls off flatbed trucks. If it turns out to have been intentional, I hope the perpetrator pays dearly.
Good God, don’t we have enough to worry about in these times. This is attempted murder…find this guy..
The person died, so its Murder.
Umm, when you attempt a.murder, and it works, it’s actually “Murder”
Please remove the word “attempted” from previous post..my mistake..
If someone threw it you are correct, if it might have fallen of another vehicle as someone suggested, then it is no one’s fault, except that any vehicle that carry heavy objects are suppose to have them secured.
So it sounds like it could be manslaughter or negligent homicide, not sure of the correct terminology. In any case the rock didn’t fall out of nowhere, unless it got loose from the overpass, but does sound likely, so someone it guilty. Hope they find the person and deal with him/her accordingly. So sorry for the family, that is just really bad luck.
what a terrible tragedy that children and probably son had to witness. The poor innocentr woman….
If you Pray. Please say an extra.Prayer. for that family.
Who ever did that will have to carry the death of an innocent person forever!
I think it could have been kids doing that. Kids that are not being watched by their parents! Maybe their parents or parent is trying to cope with this shelter in place and the kids are driving them crazy. So they let them out of the house and the kids are bored so they get into mischief! That is just a speculation of course! I sure hope they catch this bad boy or girl it bad adult! SCARY
It’s not mischievous; It’s murder.
If very young kids( age 6-10) did this perhaps they are too young to know about physics. It is not murder. If it was intentional by an adult or pre or teenage kid than yes murder. Duh You can figure it out.
I doubt this was a kid out at 9:30 at night. Kids dont want to hurt people and are smart enough to know this would hurt someone. Besides, most are at home at that time of night.
This would probably be one of the homeless people all up and down behind the apartments. They probably were high on something or mentally unstable and did this.
There’s also the Hwy 4 to Port Chicago hwy overpass.
First of all, this is a tragedy. My heart goes out to the victim and my condolences to the family.
Knowing the laws of Physics as I do, it is clear to me that the brick was either dropped from an overpass or thrown from the side of the freeway. There is no way this brick fell off a moving vehicle in front of the victims vehicle.
There are two overpasses over SR 242 just before the junction with SR 4. One is the eastbound off ramp from SR 4 to Port Chicago Highway and the other is the northbound off ramp from SR 242 onto westbound SR 4. The next overpass south is Olivera Road. If this happened at Olivera Road, the report would have said so.
A brick could have been dropped by a pedestrian who entered the Port Chicago off ramp from the west end and walked a short distance onto the overpass. Could have had a waiting car nearby. Nobody on SR 4 would have seen the pedestrian or the waiting car.
No way for a pedestrian to enter the westbound SR 4 off ramp, so if this was where the brick came from, it would have to have been thrown from a moving car. Possible, but not likely.
Having a pedestrian out on the side of the freeway near the junction is also possible, but that’s a long walk or they would have had to have a waiting car to escape. Plus, they or there car could have been seen by traffic on SR 4.
My “two cents” for what it’s worth.
I concur with your analysis Skyscraper. Our only chance of locating perpetrator(s) is nearby surveillance cameras in neighborhoods or commercial businesses, looking for people headed that direction around 9:00 pm or leaving (possibly running) after 9:30 pm.
Hopefully they will turn themselves in or maybe they bragged about it to someone else before they found out someone died.
Those damn liberals!! BawaaaaaaBawaaaaa! Those damn illegals did it! Sure we have that damn sanctuary city stuff. Round em up dag gum it!
Finger prints?
I think that would be unlikely from a brick, as they are quite porous, but DNA is a possibility.
Not likely from a brick. It has to be smooth surface.
Finger prints off a brick? Doubtful.
No camera coverage?
No helpful witness?
The criminal needs to be caught… it’s just outrageous!
This is a murder case. Touch DNA is a real forensic tool, which has previously been used to solve similar cases:
Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch, 1995 : Solved through forensic technologies.
A determined cop who was the original investigator into the murder of Krystal Beslanowitch 18 years ago in Utah helped bring resolution to this case. As The Huffington Post reports, Sheriff Todd Bonner just couldn’t let the case go. Beslanowitch was 17 years old when she died from a crushing blow to the skull. A prostitute, her body was found in 1995 along the Provo River. Leads at the time only led to dead-ends, but investigators finally got somewhere in 2013, when new forensic technologies, taking a full day, were used to extract touch DNA from the granite rock that crushed her skull. In fact, a tool called a forensic vacuum allowed for the DNA extraction. The DNA matched to a Joseph Michael Simpson, who had been a resort bus driver in the area at the time. Simpson, now 46, was arrested in Florida in September of this year. — forensicscolleges.com
What makes you think this had anything to do with “Sanctuary City” stuff? It’s just as likely some POS from here.
Dog,
Our Contra Costa DA will not even prosecute for attempted murder.
108RS
Hate to inform you, but our DA wont prosecute for murder! You get what you get Contra Costa. You voted her in! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
What a senseless tragedy. Sympathy and condolences to the family of the victim.
If that happened to me I would have stopped the car pulled over and chased this loser to beat his A$$ down
no you wouldn’t
@popcorn
You can say “damn” all you want to, but that doesn’t change the facts.
If your comment contains the following:
“I think”
“Probably”
“It might”
“Maybe”
“Could be”
Then “I think” your comment “probably” is a waste of time “maybe” “it might” be better to wait for facts and actual witness.
KenInConcord
How exactly would you fight back from a brick thrown thru your windshield at 65 mph?
There is no fighting back unless you wanna join some militia group and initiate your own little war…
If it was thrown from an overpass, I think you would have a hard time getting that person before he/she got away. If it was someone doing it on purpose, when they heard the smashing of a window I’m sure they took off as fast as they could. If they wanted to hit someone, they would already have planned to run, if they just wanted to throw the brick, and then the found out it hit someone, I’m sure they got scared and ran. Besides if you are in you car minding your own business and watching the road, and all of sudden someone next to you is seriously injured, you are most likely in chock, and your first thought is help the injured. It did say she died at the scene, but don’t think it was instantly. All I can say, as someone that drives around town a lot (except these days) if it was intentionally, this is very scary, and I hope the police get to the bottom of this whole episode.
Hanne,
People tend to do stupid stuff in groups more than they do individually. If the brick thrower was not alone, then somebody knows who it is, and it’s only a matter of time before word spreads to somebody who turns them in, especially if a reward is offered.
This same thing happened to my mom and dad when my mom was going into labor with me in the 80’s. A kid threw a rock from an overpass and it hit the windshield of my parents car. Thank goodness no one was hurt but my dad pulled over and ran up the over pass and caught the kid and I think lectured him for a bit. I think it is up to the City’s to make it so that the overpasses, where cars travel below, are safe and there is no way to throw objects over them. They could also put up bright lighting there to discourage people doing things like that. My heart goes out to the family how terrible!!!
My dear friend’s only son was in the exact same situation in DC three years ago. A 13 y o boy threw a rock off the overpass, and instantly killed his girlfriend. He’s still not recovered from the emotional scar, and that stupid kid has to live with his dumbass trick for the rest of his life. Stupid people do stupid things and kill innocent folks, with zero consequences. Very very sad for this family.
@ Dog above – you are correct. Vigilante justice will increase due to overly-stressed police becoming increasingly ineffective.
There just aren’t enough police, national guard, or other military to control the growing socially disaffected hoards. If wide-spread food disruptions occur, law & order will rapidly dissolve into chaos.
Our recent 150 mph car chases, porch-package thefts, grocery store grab-and-dash runs, and incidents like this brick-tossing crime are signs of a growing & dangerous societal breakdown …
Don’t rely on government to protect you or those you love. Trouble arrives in seconds or less – the police in minutes or more.
(Note: averting a thrown brick in the dark, is of course, impossible to protect against except installing caged windows on cars – circa MadMax).
A few weeks back my daughter and I witnessed this dude throwing rocks on to hwy 4. Called CHP to report, not sure if anything was done. It was broad day light. People have gotten crazy. My sympathy to the family who lost their loved one
After watching the news last night I am not so sure someone threw this brick. Anything is possible.
Such a tragedy…..my condolences to the family.
May her soul rest in peace.
How could such an evil person do such a despicable act? Senseless.
Hope there is a quick arrest and conviction.
Thoughts are with the family.
Probably from the Olivera Road neighborhood. Last thing they need is free time on their hands.
My heart goes out to the woman who passed and her family. This is so very sad and tragic to hear. My condolences.
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