Cars Damaged, Shot Out Windows On 91 Freeway

SEAL BEACH, CA - California Highway Patrol officers Tuesday asked for the public's help developing leads on a rash of freeway attacks in which vehicle windows have been shattered throughout the Southland since last month.

"What we're asking from the public is victims of this immediately call 911 and give us their exact location and time and description -- even if it's just a description of the vehicles around them," CHP Officer Florentino Olivera said.

Many victims have waited to call authorities, so it is much more difficult to use cameras on the freeways to narrow in on potential suspect vehicles, Olivera said.

"If we keep seeing the same vehicle around the same location we'll narrow it down," he said.

If a vehicle window is shattered, drivers are advised to pull over where it is safe or go to the nearest exit and pull over to call 911, Olivera said.

Authorities are unsure if some of the incidents are due to gravel being kicked up by a big-rig truck or if there is a suspect or multiple suspects shooting at vehicles with a pellet gun.

The most recent incident was reported about 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Riverside (91) Freeway and 241 toll road in the Anaheim Hills area, Olivera said.
On Monday at about 6:30 p.m., there was another incident at the 91 and Orange (57) Freeway in Anaheim, he said. No one was injured in either incident, Olivera said.

At about 9 a.m. Friday, a CHP officer's cruiser sustained a damaged window on the eastbound 91 at the 241, Olivera said.

"An officer was finishing up an enforcement stop and completing notes on the citation when he heard a noise and the back window was shattered. There were big rigs going by at the same time," so it might have been a rock that caused the damage, Olivera said. "We're not sure what shattered the window."

Similar incidents have been reported in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties dating back to last month, Olivera said. Many have been in the Westminster area.

Two other incidents happened just before 7 a.m. Thursday on the westbound 91 Freeway near Norwalk Boulevard, and Wednesday night on the 91 Freeway in Cerritos.

Two motorists reported shattered windows while driving on the San Diego (405) Freeway in the Seal Beach area on April 27.

Has your car been damaged this way? Let us know in comments.

City News Service, Patch editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.