Four boys face felony charges after a sandbag they allegedly threw off an interstate overpass struck a vehicle, severely injuring one of its occupants, police said Wednesday.
Authorities believe the three 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old threw sandbags and other objects onto the southbound lane of Interstate 75 on Tuesday night, said Toledo, Ohio, police Sgt. Kevin Korsog.
Marquise Byrd of Warren, Michigan, was riding in a vehicle that was hit by one of the sandbags, Korsog said. The 22-year-old is in critical condition at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo.
Byrd was riding in the passenger seat and suffered a head injury, according to CNN affiliate WTVG.
The four suspects are being held at the Lucas County Juvenile Justice Center. They each face a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, the sergeant said.
Lori Olender, deputy chief of the juvenile division of the county prosecutor’s office, said the teens hit more than one vehicle and will be charged with vandalism once investigators determine how many vehicles were damaged, according to a video posted on The Toledo Blade newspaper website.
Olender said she’s been told Byrd’s injuries could be fatal, in which case, “the state will be bringing forward some sort of homicide charge on all four of the youth.”
At a Wednesday detention hearing, the boys denied the allegations against them, but a judge ordered that, based on the serious nature of the allegations, they will remain at the detention center, The Blade reported.
A trial is set for January 4, Olender said.
In October, a Michigan judge denied bond for five teenagers accused of throwing a 6-pound rock off of an overpass near Flint, killing Kenneth White Jr., 32.
The teens face second-degree murder and other felony charges. They could be imprisoned for life. They have pleaded not guilty.