Posted on 01/23/2020 8:59:54 PM PST by nickcarraway
The California Highway Patrol has made a significant breakthrough in its investigation into projectiles on SR-156 and US-101 in the Prunedale area, as well as on SR-156 in San Benito County.
The seemingly never-ending series of projectiles shattering car windows and endangering drivers along Highway 101 and State Route 156 in Monterey County may have finally come to an end.
On Thursday, the California Highway Patrol announced "a major breakthrough in our investigation." The investigation has covered 69 known cases since February 2019 in which an unnamed projectile cracks a car's windshield or shatters the driver's side window. There would often be six or seven attacks in a single day; once there were seven attacks in just 18 minutes.
Advertisement On Wednesday, CHP arrested Charles Kenneth Lafferty, 52, in connection to the projectile investigation. Lafferty is being held on 21 charges: 10 counts of assault with a deadly weapon (not a firearm), 10 counts of throwing objects or substances at a vehicle and one charge for possession of a firearm silencer — a felony in California.
Bail was set at $250,000.
CHP was tight-lipped during the course of their long investigation about exactly what type of projectile was being used, but CHP Chief JD Maples revealed Thursday Lafferty used a slingshot with glass marbles to inflict damage on vehicles.
Another interesting tidbit revealed investigators believe he carried out the attacks while driving, aiming from his pickup truck into the driver's side windows of traffic heading in the other direction.
Lafferty's vehicle was instrumental in tracking down the suspect, Chief Maples said. The last reported incident was on Jan. 5. Shortly thereafter law enforcement identified the suspect's vehicle as a GMC Sonoma pick-up truck. They linked the truck to several known incidents and identified Lafferty as the vehicle's driver.
Most of the incidents were concentrated in a relatively small geographic location, in and around Prunedale (a community in Monterey County near Castroville). CHP emphasized they were only 24 hours into the post-arrest investigation, and more charges could follow if they are able to link Lafferty to any more of the 69 known cases.
"When there’s a break [in a major case], from here all the way to my commissioner's office in Sacramento ... when we were able to tell them, it was a sigh of relief," Maples said. "We felt it was only a matter of time before someone seriously got hurt. It was great news."
There were five minor injuries as a result of the projectile attacks; glass from the shattered windows resulted in cuts to the eyes, hands and arms. One of the people hurt was a child.
Law enforcement officials didn't comment on a possible motive for the repeated attacks. They believe he was working alone and the victims appeared to have been targeted at random. CHP Capt. Kyle Foster said Lafferty "appeared to be surprised" when he was taken into custody.
Lafferty had at least one residence in Monterey County, Maples said, and worked odd jobs in the area.
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