By Scott Buttram
BIRMINGHAM —According to CBS 42, the left rear window of a vehicle headed toward Birmingham on the Red Mountain Expressway was shattered as the car passed under the Highland Avenue overpass on Saturday. The incident was the latest in a string of events that has seen at least five vehicles damaged at the same location and the second reported in broad daylight.
Additional media reports say that there have been similar incidents in other areas of downtown, including Interstate 20/59 at the 31st Street exit and the Interstate 65 exchange, that were not reported to the police or where police were notified, but the driver declined to fill out a report.
Regina Leonard of Sylacauga told the television station that she was able to maintain control of the vehicle when the window exploded covering a baby in shattered glass.
Leonard and the other occupants of the vehicle reported seeing nothing out of the ordinary before the incident.
“Nothing but traffic. Nothing out of the unusual, just traffic,” Leonard told CBS 42.
Weld of Birmingham reported on Wednesday that Birmingham police have stepped up patrols in the area, including the use of unmarked vehicles, after five previous reports to the department in recent weeks.
In addition to the five incidents reported by Weld, The Trussville Tribune has learned of an additional incident which was reported to Birmingham police last Monday.
Darrell Stafford of Gardendale said something hit his vehicle and shattered the sunroof of his vehicle near the Highland Avenue overpass of the Expressway last Monday.
“I was driving north on 31,” Stafford said. “I had just passed the highland avenue overpass when it happened. It was around 3″15 p.m. on Monday the 24th. It put a basketball sized hole in my sunroof and chipped my windshield. Other minor damages was done to the car. I believe I was hit with several items. Birmingham police were called, it did take them an hour to show up, glad I wasn’t injured.”
Stafford said that it took Birmingham officers about an hour to respond. They told him that they didn’t know what caused the damage and did not mention the previous incidents.
Forbes ranks Birmingham, Alabama as the 6th most dangerous city in America.
So far, the incidents in Birmingham have not caused any injuries, but similar incidents in other areas have caused serious injury and death.
Two teens recently pleaded guilty in Tuscaloosa to causing serious injuries to a driver in that city. In 1999, a University of Alabama professor was killed in Florida when a brick thrown from an overpass came through her windshield.
Updated with additional information from Darrell Stafford at 9:51 a.m.
