3 arrested after Colorado motorist is killed by rock hurled through windshield
GOLDEN, Colo. — Three young men have been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Colorado woman who was struck by a rock that investigators say was thrown through her windshield while she was driving.
Alexa Bartell of Arvada, Colo., was talking on the phone with a friend when she was hit by the rock northwest of Denver on April 19. After the call went silent, the friend tracked Bartell’s location with a phone app and found the woman dead in her car, which had crashed into a field, said Karlyn Tilley, a spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Bartell was killed by the rock and not the crash, according to Tilley.
Joseph Koenig, Nicholas “Mitch†Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, all 18, were arrested at their homes in Arvada overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.
Freeway shootings in Southern California revive memories of my fears of a man dubbed the “Phantom Rock Thrower,†who haunted the 91 Freeway in 1977.
Investigators believe the attack to be linked to several similar incidents in which rocks between four and six inches in diameter and weighing three to five pounds were hurled at cars in the area the night of Bartell’s death.
The attacks started just after 10 p.m. and involved at least seven vehicles. In addition to Bartell’s death, two drivers suffered minor injuries.
Investigators say mobile device forensics and tips from the public helped lead them to the suspects, who could face additional charges.
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