Asheville police: 3 instances of rocks thrown at cars in 2 days

ASHEVILLE - Mary Miller and her husband, Craig, had just passed under the I-40 overpass headed into Biltmore Village on Hendersonville Road when it happened.

“Boom. Boom. My husband ducks. He’s driving. We were being shot at, but we had no idea where the gunshots were coming from,” Mary Miller said, recounting Wednesday what happened immediately after something hit their Mini Cooper the previous night.

Asheville police say it was a rock, not gunfire, that struck the Millers' car.

Police have received five similar reports this month, three of which happened in the past two days, according to Christina Hallingse, Asheville Police Department spokeswoman. The department is investigating the incident that left the Millers with their windshield and sense of safety on the road shattered.

“We’re working on a higher level of awareness that these incidents are occurring,” Hallingse said, explaining that the nature of these throw-and-runs makes investigation difficult. “Unless somebody physically sees something, can get a license plate or something, it’s hard to pinpoint this kind of crime.”

Inconsistency is the only thing linking the five reported rock strikes this month. The stone throwers have struck at different locations throughout town, at different times, and on different days of the week, according to Hallingse. Police don’t know whether one person or group is behind these incidents or whether each is isolated, Hallingse said, adding they don’t believe the people throwing rocks are targeting anybody in particular.

It was just past 6:30 p.m. when the rock hit the Millers’ car. The bang was so loud they said they believe it was a bullet that broke their windshield.

“We were covered in glass. It was in our eyes. It was in our hair,” Mary Miller, of Franklin, told the Citizen-Times. “At first it’s just so much confusion, then you have to react.”

Few people are likely more prepared to react to that situation than the Millers. Both are driving instructors. Craig Miller, who was driving at the time, is also an airline captain “trained to handle life threatening emergencies,” he said.

Immediately upon being hit, Craig Miller said he remained calm, checked the lanes around him – which were empty – slowed down, then got off the road to check the damage.

Incidents like this are incredibly dangerous, not only to passengers in the impacted car but for others on the road, Hallingse said. Last month, five teenagers in Michigan were charged with murder after a rock they threw from an overpass broke the windshield of a van below, killing a passenger, the Associate Press reported.

“It happened super quick, but once we got off the road and looked at the car, we realized we could’ve just died,” Craig Miller said.

OTHER INCIDENTS

Sept. 24: 77 McDowell St., 12:13 p.m.

Oct. 20: 600 Biltmore Ave., 2:52 p.m.

Nov. 8: 121 Biltmore Ave., 4:54 p.m.

Nov. 9: 15 Tunnel Road, 6:20 p.m.

Nov. 27: 648 Hendersonville Road, 8:16 p.m.

Nov. 28: 184 Tunnel Road, 4:45 p.m.

Nov. 28: 206 Hendersonville Road, 6:47 p.m.