Juveniles charged with throwing rocks from bridge
Rocks hit cars on GSP, Route 9, sending 9-month-old to hospital
BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer

WOODBRIDGE - Township police and the New Jersey State Police charged two Hopelawn juveniles - one 14 years old, one 17 years old - last week with over 90 counts of aggravated assault, criminal mischief, and interference with transportation each.

The incidents, which left a total of 16 vehicles damaged traveling on the Garden State Parkway and 18 vehicles traveling on Route 9, occurred during the week of Feb. 11 through Feb. 14 along Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway that runs parallel to Route 9, police said.

All the vehicles were damaged by rocks thrown from the bridge, police said.

On Feb. 14, the Woodbridge Police Department Special Investigations Unit apprehended four juveniles, moments after a black Dodge Neon that was traveling on Route 9 north in Hopelawn was struck by a rock that was thrown from an above-train bridge, the police report said.

The rock smashed through the rear windshield of the Neon, nearly missing a 9-month-old infant who was in a car seat. The glass shattered inward, covering the infant, the police report said.

The vehicle immediately pulled over and police and emergency services were summoned to the scene, police said.

Immediately after the Neon was struck, a second vehicle was struck in the windshield with a rock that was also thrown from the same bridge, police said.

The infant was transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy where she received medical attention, the police report said.

The four juveniles, who were all from the Hopelawn and Fords sections of Woodbridge, were transported to police headquarters and then turned over to the Juvenile Aid Bureau, the police report said.

After further investigation, two Hopelawn juveniles were charged, police said.

The juveniles were remanded to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center in North Brunswick until a further court hearing scheduled for March 12.