ST. LOUIS — Passing under bridges on Interstate 64 sets off a trigger for several St. Louis drivers.
On Wednesday, Kristen Edgeworth took to her neighborhood’s group forum on Facebook to express her frustration about the damage to the brand-new car she bought in January.
It is a scenario 5 On Your Side brought to our awareness multiple times in recent months.
Edgeworth and her friend were on their way home Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. nearing the Hampton overpass when a giant rock hit the front of her car.
A large concrete boulder left a dent on the passenger side of her hood.
"It's very nerve-wracking to think that it might have gone through the windshield and like hurt both of us," she said.
Edgeworth filed a police report, made a claim with her insurance, and went back to the bridge later that evening to see what crashed onto her hood.
"We found a piece … it weighed about 4 1/2 pounds," she added.
5 On Your Side reported on multiple instances where people experienced the same thing at the Hampton overpass and the bridge at Kingshighway, some of whom within days of each other.
Two questions have come to mind: Are the objects falling from the bridge themselves? Or is someone deliberately throwing the rocks from the overpass?
A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Transportation which handles the bridges said, “Crews have found no evidence of any material from the bridge structure” and they were working with law enforcement partners.
St. Louis police have since put up a surveillance camera on Hampton to monitor the area.
"If the camera's not enough, I definitely think there should be extra steps taken,” Edgeworth said.
She added that no matter where the issue was coming from, especially if someone is throwing the rocks, it needed to be addressed.
"If it's not teenagers, mental illness is really rife within the homeless population. I hope that if that's the scenario, the community, and the city is able to provide that person the assistance and care that they need so that way they can feel safe and everyone else can feel safe while driving in the area," she said.
A spokesperson for the St. Louis Police Department said they did locate a man on the overpass last in February next to several rocks, but he was only questioned.
5 On Your Side submitted an open records request for footage from the SKYCOP camera on the bridge to scan for any activity on the dates victims have reported.
This is a developing story.
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