TX - Patrick Johnson charged in I-35 rock-throwing incidents, Austin, 2016

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San Antonio Express-News:

Austin police still searching for suspects after 83 rock-throwing incidents on I-35 last 2 years

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The latest and largest string of rocks being hurled onto cars driving on Interstate 35 in Austin brings the total number of incidents in the last 2 years to 83, police said Wednesday.

Last week, at least five people were injured, including one person who got glass in their eye, in the string of 13 incidents, which took place Friday through Sunday along a nearly 10-mile span of Interstate 35 in Central Austin between 9 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., according to Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Chris McIlvain.
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He also said the department is in discussions with the Texas Department of Transportation to possibly add signage to warn drivers, particularly non-Austin residents, of falling rocks coming from the upper deck.

McIlvain also said APD is not ruling out closing down the lower deck entirely until the alleged culprits are caught, but plans for both options have not been set in stone.
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more at link
 
4 more in the last 2 days. What scares me is they made an arrest last week, but apparently that person only threw a few of them so it appears to be multiple people doing this in unrelated incidents.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police are investigating two more potential rock throwing incidents from Tuesday night.

The rocks were thrown five minutes apart around 10:30 p.m. on Interstate 35 and 7th Street. A vehicle was struck by a rock heading southbound. According to police, this is the fourth case of rock throwing in two days.
Monday night, starting at 11 p.m., two rocks were thrown within 45 minutes of each other. The first location was at Cesar Chavez and I-35. The second incident happened near the 3500 block of North I-35 between Concordia Avenue and 38 1/2 Street.

To combat this growing issue with almost 100 cases, police have announced all rock throwing investigations will now be handled by their Organized Crime Division, partnered with the FBI and other federal agencies.

“Somebody will die, no doubt in my mind,” said Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo in a press conference. “I am convinced this person or persons is trying to kill somebody.”



http://kxan.com/2016/06/08/more-overnight-rock-throwing-cases-make-4-in-2-days/
 
8f0ada48cfa4e457d189996b626f881f.jpg


https://instagram.com/p/BGdUQPDOp8t/
 
Arrest made -- crazy development!

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Wow!!!

Travis County took my picture but no, I didn't smile.

[video=youtube;lz7Bw8a7ghs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz7Bw8a7ghs[/video]
 
Austin Rock Thrower Faces New Charge

He was charged with aggravated assault from a rock-throwing incident in 2014. The victim in that case suffered brain damage.

Police believed Patrick Johnson is responsible for most of the 94 incidents reported over two years around the I-35 corridor.

BBM
 
Police execute search warrants in rock-throwing case


Police seized the cell phone, computers and other electronics of the suspect in the serial rock-throwing case and are doing forensic examinations on them.

Investigators believe Patrick Johnson may have kept what they call “trophies” from the rock-throwing incidents, like pictures, on his computer.
...

Johnson is in the Travis County Jail on a combined $600,000 cash bond for the charges associated with the rock-throwings and $250,000 bond for a separate charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
 
Austin police file another charge against I-35 rock-throwing suspect

Patrick Johnson, the man police say was behind a rash of rock throwing incidents on Interstate 35, has been charged with an additional felony for an incident that left a victim blind in one eye.

The new charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stems from the evening of May 21, when police say Johnson chucked a fist-sized rock through the windshield of a pickup, striking the driver in the face. The injury caused the victim to undergo multiple facial surgeries

In total, this makes seven felony charges for Johnson, who also faces an unrelated charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child from 2013. Police have said publicly that they suspect him in dozens of rock-throwing attacks, most of which occurred at night and originated from a moving vehicle.

Police are familiar with Johnson, who they say since June 2014 has called 911 more than 1,100 times to report various traffic incidents.

More than 1,100 times!!!
 
Austin I-35 rock throwing suspect says he wants to confess

In a letter he sent from jail to the American-Statesman, Patrick Johnson said he has informed prosecutors he will not seek a trial and would “rather confess and plead no contest” to throwing rocks at moving cars and trucks and injuring drivers, including one left with permanent brain damage.

Johnson, who was convicted last month on an unrelated charge of sexual assault of a child, said any additional punishment “is irrelevant considering I already have a 99 yr sentence.” Johnson, who a jury said had oral sex with a boy between the ages of 13 and 15, is eligible for parole in 30 years, at which time Johnson would be 90.

His attempt to plead no contest came one month after he told the Statesman in a letter dated Aug. 27 that “I never hit any vehicles with a rock, and APD has no video, photos or eyewitnesses that I ever did — regardless what they claim.”



On Wednesday, Austin police Cmdr. Steve Deaton, who supervised the rock-throwing investigation, said the department has suspended a special task force aimed at solving the cases but that about 10 to 20 cases remain open in which the assailants carried out crimes differently from the majority of the attacks they’ve tied to Johnson.

Deaton said it is possible that someone else carried out those crimes. Police arrested a handful of copycats, but Deaton said most of them had mental health issues and were taken to psychiatric hospitals. He also said that as motorists were becoming vigilant to the attacks, police also received additional reports they think could have been the result of road debris.
 
Rock throwing suspect Pat Johnson discussing plea deal

The attorney for Johnson, Michael Watson, said while his client was given a plea deal, there is not a firm deadline on when they need to answer. The state is offering Johnson a 40 year sentence on each of the four cases to run concurrently. Watson says he expects this case to go to trial

The next courtroom day is scheduled for Nov. 10 at 9 a.m.

Just last month, Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for another crime. He was convicted of abusing a child back in 2012.
 
Austin man convicted of I-35 rock-throwing that left one with brain damage says it 'became a sport'

Patrick Eugene Johnson, 56, pleaded guilty Thursday to four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and agreed to 40 concurrent years of prison time, a news release from the Travis County District Attorney's said Thursday.

Johnson says in the interview that he started throwing rocks at car in order to teach people a lesson about driving while intoxicated. He also told the station he knew how to spot a drunk driver.

Additionally, Johnson admitted to molesting a 14-year-old boy at an undisclosed date, attributing those actions to his disease as well.
 
Excellent reporting on this story.

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk
 
Excellent reporting on this story.

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk

I've (obviously) been following the story. Every time I google I think "Nah, no way there's more" but there always is. Such a strange crime to get caught up in and it would have been simple for him to just stop and never be caught. But of course it's also surprising he got away with it as many times as he did.
 

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