SAN JOSE — A man has been criminally charged with throwing landscaping rocks at cars from a freeway overpass and on San Jose streets this past weekend, with authorities calling it a miracle that no one was killed by the alleged acts.
Avila Pedraza was booked into the Elmwood men’s jail in Milpitas and was initially held without bail; his arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. He was also charged with felony hit and run after colliding with a bicyclist the day he was arrested, court records show. The alleged attacks on freeway drivers centered on the Hellyer Avenue overpass above Highway 101, authorities said. Multiple reported incidents described Avila Pedraza as throwing rocks at oncoming cars while he drove on surface streets in San Jose.
“SJPD did an excellent job of solving it and making an arrest,” Poolos told this news organization. “I think it’s extremely reckless dangerous conduct. We’re lucky no one died from all of this.