It’s bad enough that shaken Red Deer bus drivers were showered with broken glass after fist-sized rocks and a bottle were hurled at their windshields from a passing car.
But the creepiest thing about the six incidents of “serious mischief endangering life” that occurred in north Red Deer between Dec. 12 and 30 was that the drive-by assailants appear to have been specifically targeting the bus drivers, instead of just transit vehicles, said Cpl. Kathe DeHeer, media resource officer for Red Deer City RCMP.
“We find it deeply disturbing that all the buses were targeted by rocks or a bottle thrown at the drivers’ side of the window,” she added.
One bus driver sustained a chipped tooth and some light facial lacerations. But it could have easily been much, much worse.
DeHeer said, “This could have blinded the drivers,” knocked them unconscious, or even killed them — causing the buses to drift and collide with another vehicle or pedestrian.
“The potential for serious injury from these incidents is incredibly high,” she said, adding that police are taking it very seriously.
One of the aspects under investigation is whether the bus mischief was caused by the same assailants who hurled a bottle through a picture window of a Red Deer home earlier this month.
The north-side home owner caught one of the suspected culprits. And DeHeer said two 17-year-old males and an 18-year-old male were arrested and charged with seven counts of mischief.
Police are looking into whether it’s significant or just a coincidence that no bus incidents have occurred since the charges were laid. She said officers are considering whether there’s a link.
Witnesses described someone throwing rocks at buses from a small, dark older model car. Anyone with information is asked to call the RCMP.
Dennis Hoffman, senior operations supervisor for Red Deer Transit, can’t understand what would motivate anyone to target bus drivers in this dangerous manner. “I’ve been here 32 years, and people have thrown things at buses — apples or snowballs — but this is new to me. It’s hard to fathom,” said Hoffman.
Maybe the assailants “weren’t thinking,” he added — but how could anyone assume a baseball-sized rock could not cause serious damage?
Hoffman admitted he’s probably giving the culprits too much benefit-of-the-doubt by suggesting they just didn’t think things through.
Considering that city transit buses were going about 50 km/h and the passing vehicle the stones were flung from were going at least 30 km/h, Hoffman said the projectile would have been shattering windshields at 80 km/h.
“That’s quite an impact.”
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com