Woman, son hurt when bottle hits windshield
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 11, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/woman-son-hurt-when-bottle-hits-windshield/article_13a0aa10-5adf-11e7-b64f-10604b9f0f42.html
A Lovelaceville woman and her 7-year-old son suffered minor injuries Thursday night after someone in a passing vehicle threw a large ketchup bottle out of a window.
According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, Brittanie McLeod, 33, and her son were driving east on Ogden Landing Road when the person in the oncoming car - allegedly a truck - tossed the bottle.
"I was on my way home and I saw a truck coming at me and I didn't think nothing of it," McLeod said. "Then I heard something hit the windshield and my son started screaming. I stopped the car and turned the light (inside the car) on. When I looked at him, he had his hands up over his face and I thought he was covered in blood."
Deputy Trent Hardin said the bottle smashed through McLeod's windshield, showering the woman and her son - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - with glass and ketchup. The bottle was later found in the vehicle's back seat, Hardin said.
McLeod said she and her son sustained minor cuts to their hands and faces. They were treated at Baptist Health Paducah.
Sheriff Jon Hayden said he believed the incident was not an accident.
"It would certainly appear that this was an intentional act of vandalism without any thought to the consequences," he said. "I don't think a lot of people think of the consequences when they do something like this."
Hayden also said he did not think McLeod or her son was targeted.
"We believe it was a random act," he said. "There's no reason to believe this lady's vehicle was targeted."
McLeod said the culprits were probably a couple of kids who thought it would be funny.
"It was not funny," she said, "not funny at all."
The sheriff said detectives are investigating the incident and checking surveillance videos from businesses in the area where the incident occurred.
If caught, the suspect could face charges as serious as first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony that is punishable by up to one to five years in prison, Hayden said. McLeod said that although they weren't badly hurt, the incident could have been a lot worse.
"I would just like to find out who was responsible for it because that could have killed my child," she said. "If that bottle had hit him, it could have killed him."
Anyone with information regarding the crime can call the sheriff's department at 270-444-4719 or Crimestoppers at 270-443-TELL.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, Brittanie McLeod, 33, and her son were driving east on Ogden Landing Road when the person in the oncoming car - allegedly a truck - tossed the bottle.
"I was on my way home and I saw a truck coming at me and I didn't think nothing of it," McLeod said. "Then I heard something hit the windshield and my son started screaming. I stopped the car and turned the light (inside the car) on. When I looked at him, he had his hands up over his face and I thought he was covered in blood."
Deputy Trent Hardin said the bottle smashed through McLeod's windshield, showering the woman and her son - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - with glass and ketchup. The bottle was later found in the vehicle's back seat, Hardin said.
McLeod said she and her son sustained minor cuts to their hands and faces. They were treated at Baptist Health Paducah.
Sheriff Jon Hayden said he believed the incident was not an accident.
"It would certainly appear that this was an intentional act of vandalism without any thought to the consequences," he said. "I don't think a lot of people think of the consequences when they do something like this."
Hayden also said he did not think McLeod or her son was targeted.
"We believe it was a random act," he said. "There's no reason to believe this lady's vehicle was targeted."
McLeod said the culprits were probably a couple of kids who thought it would be funny.
"It was not funny," she said, "not funny at all."
The sheriff said detectives are investigating the incident and checking surveillance videos from businesses in the area where the incident occurred.
If caught, the suspect could face charges as serious as first-degree wanton endangerment, a felony that is punishable by up to one to five years in prison, Hayden said. McLeod said that although they weren't badly hurt, the incident could have been a lot worse.
"I would just like to find out who was responsible for it because that could have killed my child," she said. "If that bottle had hit him, it could have killed him."
Anyone with information regarding the crime can call the sheriff's department at 270-444-4719 or Crimestoppers at 270-443-TELL.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
