A shattered sunroof, glass scattered across the back seat, and two people nursing minor scratches — that's what one Mooresville family found after driving along Highway 150 near Caldwell Road earlier this month. It's one of several recent reports from drivers who say rocks or metal objects have been thrown at their vehicles in the area, and so far, nobody has been caught.
Kiara Hernandez was riding in the passenger seat while her mother drove on Highway 150 on September 4 when a white sedan reportedly threw a large metal object at their car, according to a report from WSOC-TV. The impact shattered the car's sunroof, sending glass debris throughout the interior. Hernandez and her mother both ended up with minor scratches, including scratches on her mother's arm, per the station's report.
Hernandez isn't the only one describing this kind of scare. The outlet also reported that a 16-year-old relative of one person experienced a similar incident on Highway 150 back in June, and a separate Facebook user said the same thing happened to his wife on the highway on September 3. At least one business near the intersection of Highway 150 and Statesville Avenue is submitting surveillance video to police in hopes of identifying whoever is responsible, the same account notes.
No Suspects, No Confirmed Pattern
Police have not identified any suspects in the reported incidents, and they have not confirmed whether the cases are connected or part of a broader trend, according to the report. Hernandez told the outlet she hopes investigators can determine whether the incidents are part of a wider issue. In the meantime, police have asked the insurance company to cover the deductible on the damage to her family's car, and Hernandez said she is still working through the insurance process.
The reports are surfacing on a stretch of roadway that's already under heavy strain. Highway 150 in Mooresville is in the middle of a $249 million NCDOT widening project stretching between Catawba County and U.S. Highway 21, a corridor Hoodline has covered before over I-77 ramp closures. The project has narrowed shoulders and shifted traffic lanes, and per the Town of Mooresville, that means less room for drivers to maneuver away from any hazard in the roadway.
A Corridor Already Under Pressure
Traffic on Highway 150 has only gotten heavier as construction continues. WCNC reported in June that the highway is dealing with concurrent major projects, including bridge work over Interstate 77 and upcoming widening on Williamson Road, making it one of the Lake Norman area's most congested transit corridors. That combination of dense traffic, narrow shoulders, and now objects being thrown at moving cars raises the stakes for anyone driving the stretch near Caldwell Road.
Because Highway 150 is a state route, incidents like these can't be filed through Mooresville's online reporting portal. The Mooresville Police Department directs drivers to report non-emergency incidents on state highways directly to dispatch or the State Highway Patrol instead. Primary traffic enforcement along state routes in Iredell County is shared between the North Carolina State Highway Patrol's Troop F District IV out of Statesville and the Iredell County Sheriff's Office Patrol Enforcement Unit, meaning any investigation into who's behind the thrown objects could involve more than one agency.
What The Law Says About Throwing Objects At Cars
Under North Carolina General Statute § 14-160, wantonly and willfully damaging someone's personal property, including a vehicle, is a Class 2 misdemeanor — one that becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor if the damage tops $200. But legal guidance from FindLaw notes the potential exposure can go well beyond that: throwing heavy or metallic objects at moving traffic can be prosecuted as assault with a deadly weapon under N.C.G.S. § 14-32 or § 14-33 when the act creates an immediate risk of serious injury or a crash.
Similar cases elsewhere show how seriously authorities have treated this kind of behavior. In February 2023, Union County Sheriff's deputies used thermal-imaging drone technology to track down and arrest five teenagers accused of throwing large rocks off a bridge onto commercial trucks on the Monroe Expressway, according to WCNC. The Charlotte area has dealt with this problem before, too — the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department issued public warnings back in October 2017 after multiple reports of objects being thrown at moving vehicles on major roadways, and in a single week that May, Charlotte authorities investigated three separate rock-throwing incidents along Interstate 85, one of which shattered a windshield and caused more than $1,000 in damage.
The danger isn't unique to North Carolina. In a comparable case this month in Pierce County, Washington, law enforcement charged a suspect with second-degree malicious mischief and reckless endangerment after he allegedly threw rocks and metal objects at passing vehicles, according to KING 5, with damage estimated at up to $9,000. For now, Mooresville drivers along Highway 150 are left watching the road for construction and traffic alike, hoping investigators can figure out who's behind the objects hitting their cars.
