Motorist Hauls Boy To Cops After Rock Tossed Into Windshield
Updated 09/04/11 - 9:00 p.m.
CHICAGO (STMW) --An angry motorist walked a 12-year-old boy into a police station after the child allegedly hurled a rock off a nearby West Side overpass, smashing the windshield of the man's minivan Sunday morning.
"I'm just glad I didn't get hurt and no one else did," said the driver, 54-year-old long-time West Side resident Wilbert Crosby.
"It hit my windshield. It's a good thing it hit the top corner because I could have been killed," according to Crosby, who said at first he thought he was being shot at.
The incident happened about 11 a.m. as Crosby was behind the wheel of a 1996 Chevrolet Astrovan westbound on the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) approaching Kedzie Avenue. He noticed the boy looking over the edge of the overpass before throwing something, according to Harrison District police Lt. John Andrews.
Moments later, a rock hit his windshield and shattered it.
"When that sound hit, first I thought is it a shooting or what -- it was really loud," said Crosby, a guitarist who said he has performed for the White House and the Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien shows.
Crosby said everything happened very quickly.
"I don't think I had time to be scared, if it was a shooting, I was thinking of getting over and getting down, but it was so quick that I didn't actually freak out," Crosby said.
Crosby was "angry enough" to pull off the expressway, leave the minivan in the middle of the street, and escort the boy to the nearby Harrison District station located at Kedzie and Harrison, the lieutenant said.
"The guy got off the expressway and took him by the arm and walked him right into the police station," said Andrews. "He said: 'I want you to arrest this young man.'"
While the boy told police he did not do it, his younger sister who was with him at the time, told police that he did, according to the lieutenant.
The boy was charged with vehicular endangerment, a Class 2 felony, and criminal damage to property, a misdemeanor, Chicago Police News Affairs said Sunday evening.
Crosby said to fix the window of the Astrovan it will probably be between $200 and $300.
"I'm going to keep my receipts," Crosby said. "Hopefully his parents or somebody can reimburse me."
Crosby, who works with After School Matters, and has two boys and two girls are all in area schools, aged 15 to 24, said he hopes the boy will learn something from the incident.
"I was not about to let him get away with this,'' said Crosby. "I wanted to explain to him that there are repercussions for the things you do whether it's good or bad."
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
