More incidents of rocks thrown at vehicles on Ontario highway reported to police: OPP

Police say they’re now investigating six incidents involving rocks thrown at vehicles on an Ontario highway, including one that officers believe led to two people being critically injured.

Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Wednesday that officers were looking into three incidents, but in an update on Friday, said three more have been reported.

Police said that all of them occurred on Highway 48 in the Markham area and its believed they’re linked.

The one that allegedly resulted in the most serious injuries occurred on Sept. 20.

At around 11:40 p.m., emergency crews responded to a two-vehicle crash at Highway 48 and Major Mackenzie Drive.

The driver and passenger of one of the vehicles involved were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

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“Investigators believe that a rock was deliberately thrown at the windshield of the vehicle by a passing vehicle or person, leading to the collision,” OPP said.

And earlier that night, at around 10:30 p.m., police received two separate reports of rocks hitting the windshields of vehicles heading north on Highway 48, just north of Elgin Mills, the OPP said. That’s around two kilometres from the scene of the crash at Major Mackenzie Drive.

Rocks Thrown at Moving Vehicles:#OPP are now investigating 6 incidents involving rocks being thrown at moving vehicles on Hwy 48 in #Markham between Sept 12 and Sept 20. OPP is appealing to the public for information. If you witnessed anything suspicious or have dash-cam or… pic.twitter.com/obxwXaIj91

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) September 27, 2024

The drivers of the two vehicles were reported to have suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital.

In Friday’s update, police said one of the three additional incidents reported also occurred at around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 20.

A rock struck a vehicle that was heading north on Highway 48 just past Major Mackenzie drive, damaging the driver’s-side mirror, police said.

Additionally, police said that on Sept. 12 at around 10:25 p.m., a vehicle heading south on Highway 48 near Stouffville Road was hit by a rock, which smashed a headlight.

Around five minutes after that, a vehicle heading north on Highway 48 near Elgin Mills was also hit by a rock, damaging the driver’s side-view mirror, police said. Investigators released photos of the damage related to that incident.

No injuries were reported in the three newly reported cases.

“The OPP believe these incidents are all linked to the same vehicle and person,” police said, though an OPP spokesperson told INsauga.com it’s not clear if there were passengers in the vehicle who may have been involved as well.

Anyone with information or video footage that could help the ongoing investigation was asked to come forward.

Handout / OPP