Man accused of throwing steel pipe at truck on highway near Austin
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MANOR, Texas (KXAN) — A man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after being accused of throwing things at drivers on U.S. Highway 290, including a six-foot solid steel pipe.
According to an arrest affidavit, police officers responded to the intersection of Old Kimbro Road and East Highway 290 shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16 after multiple people called 911 to report that a man was throwing things at passing vehicles.
The affidavit noted that this section of Hwy 290 is a major interstate, and the speed limit is 65 miles per hour with steady traffic most of the day, and traffic was heavy at the time of the call.
When police arrived, there were three vehicles on the eastbound side of the roadway on the shoulder with hazards on, and it was later determined two of them were victims of the incident. One of them was driving a Volkswagen Tiguan, and the other was driving a Freightliner box truck, the affidavit said.
Both victims said they were driving eastbound on the highway when an unknown man threw something at their vehicles as they were driving by.
The Freightliner had a solid steel pipe that was approximately six feet long pierced through the windshield, according to the affidavit. The affidavit noted it was “at an angle consistent with being thrown from the passenger side and went all the way through the front windshield,” and that it came to a stop just inches away from where the driver was sitting. The driver said he was going about 60 MPH when the pipe went through the windshield.
The Volkswagen had a “deep gouge” on the passenger door, which was described in the affidavit as approximately three inches long and “consistent with something hitting it in a side swipe motion.”
The man was found in the middle of a grassy median, and he was detained by a Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit identified the man as John Gonzales, 44. Attorney information was not yet available for him, but when that information is available, KXAN will reach out to an attorney for comment.
According to the affidavit, Gonzales “admitted he was throwing items at vehicles to ‘flag them down.'”
According to online jail records, Gonzales faces a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief greater than or equal to $100 and less than $750. Jail records show he was booked into the Travis County Jail that night with a $34,000 bond.
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