A man was arrested after a football-sized rock thrown from an Oceanside overpass smashed through a windshield and injured a pregnant woman passenger in a car on Interstate 5 late Sunday evening.
An off-duty Oceanside police officer driving behind the victim’s vehicle saw the incident shortly after 8:45 p.m. as they drove southbound under the Bush Street overpass, just north of Mission Avenue. He provided a description of the suspect to responding officers, and they used an aerial drone to locate the suspect in a nearby canyon.
Police said David Avalos was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and booked into the Vista jail. He also was facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon and throwing an object at a vehicle causing injury. Surveillance video was obtained by police that also helped identify the suspect, said Lt. Ryan Erwin said in a news release.
The woman, who was riding in the front seat, was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Her unborn child did not appear to be injured, Erwin said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Oceanside police Detective Jeff Vandenburgh at (760) 435-4237.
