Seattle man survives a metal beam thrown off I-5, into his windshield
A local man says he is having second thoughts about his route to work because of this, a metal beam tossed onto his vehicle. He could’ve died.
The Seattle man was driving northbound on I-5 Tuesday morning on his way to work when eyewitnesses say someone threw a 51-inch metal beam off the 164th Street overpass.
The beam went right through his windshield. As you might guess, he didn’t make it to work today.
We have sadly grown accustomed to this happening in Seattle. But yesterday morning, it was from this overpass in Lynnwood that someone tossed a metal beam into morning rush hour traffic.
The good news is the victim is still here to tell his incredible story of survival.
“I can see I’m coming under the overpass.”
That is the moment Gregory Sanon’s Tuesday morning commute took a dramatic turn, his native Haiti still in his voice.
“I was doing like 65-to-70 miles-an-hour, going to work,” Sanon said, gesturing. “And then all I know I was getting under it and then after that, it’s just like -- poooooh!”
He didn’t know what hit him.
“I thought I was dead or something or the overpass crash over me,” he said.
It was, instead, a 51-inch-long steel beam.
“And then all I can see is debris, all the debris hitting my face,” he said. “I was just trying to stay calm and then make sure I don’t press my gas.”
The Washington State Patrol says someone witnessed a person tossing the beam into traffic from the 164th Street Southwest overpass in Lynnwood. But the person managed to escape.
Sanon is just the latest victim, nearly killed when someone threw debris onto I-5. It has happened most often near downtown Seattle. But WSP says the dangerous act has apparently migrated north.
“You see how bent the steering wheel is,” Sanon exclaimed.
Like the other victims, Sanon survived. And he says he holds no grudge against the person whose dangerous act might have cost him his life.
“I would just say, ‘Hey, if you’re sick in the mind, just go ahead, seek help,’” he said. “So yeah, I have no ill feelings. I’m glad I’m here. You know, I’m lucky.”
Lucky and very forgiving. He says he will take a different route to work tomorrow. even if it takes him longer to get to work.
As for the culprit, the WSP has said only he was a male pedestrian. So, they need help solving this terrifying crime.
