By Esther Lauaki
An 11-year-old boy has been charged after a truck driver narrowly cheated death when a 12-kilogram rock was hurled from a Melton overpass onto the Western Freeway, shattering his windscreen.
Dash-cam footage captured the moment the large rock, which truck driver Andrew Martin described as melon-sized, was thrown from the overpass between Coburns and Station roads leaving him no time to dodge them.
The 28-year-old was driving his truck, which was carrying foam, along the highway about 2.20pm on Sunday, November 25 and saw a few teenagers standing on the pedestrian overpass before the rock hit the windscreen.
“I just got sprayed with shrapnel and managed to pull up safely,” Mr Martin said.
He ran across three lanes of traffic in a bid to catch the teenagers, but to no avail.
On Friday afternoon police said they had charged an 11-year-old boy from Melton West with reckless conduct endangering life, criminal damage and discharging a missile.
Detective Sergeant Ashley Ryan said that two other boys – an 11-year-old and 12-year-old both from Melton – were also arrested over the incident but released pending further inquiries.
“One rock, which was substantial in size, between 10 kilograms and 12 kilograms, struck the windscreen of a passing truck heading in a westerly direction,” detective Ryan said.
“It’s concerning because it not only could have potentially caused serious injury or death, it could have also caused an accident involving one or multiple vehicles.”
Mr Martin, who is from Modella in Gippsland, said he had lost work as a result of the incident.
– with The Age
