Hammer thrown from side of road hits child in passing car, Washington cops say
A man standing on a roadside in Washington chucked a hammer at a passing car, striking an 8-year-old child in the head, a sheriff’s office said.
The man had been wielding a hammer while his vehicle blocked traffic around 3:30 p.m. May 23 in Spokane, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
One driver stopped to help the man, thinking his car had broken down, deputies said.
When the man became confrontational, the driver, who had his 8-year-old son in the truck with him, began driving off, deputies said.
The man then threw his hammer at the truck, striking the child on his forehead, deputies said. The child’s eye swelled “rapidly,” and his father took him to the hospital.
Deputies said the man was also waving around homemade “incendiary devices” that he tried to ignite.
Photos from the sheriff’s office show a soda bottle with a wick. He was also found with what appeared to be an oil bottle with a blue paper wick.
When deputies responded to the scene, they found the man’s Jeep blocking an intersection, and a red gas can near the car, deputies said.
Deputies said they found the man with the oil bottle in his hand. When they arrested him, he smelled like oil and was found with meth.
He was arrested on a first-degree assault charge and two counts of possession of an incendiary device.
He was also arrested on a hit-and-run charge after he struck a person’s unattached garage, deputies said.
The man’s bail was set at $100,000.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Hammer thrown from side of road hits child in passing car, Washington cops say."
