Deputies: Watch for rocks being thrown from Cortez Boulevard overpass in Hernando County

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Drivers in Hernando County are being warned to be extra cautious. Early Tuesday morning, deputies say a group of people were spotted on a bridge, tossing rocks onto cars below. At least one vehicle was hit.

The incident was reported around 1:30 a.m. on Cortez Boulevard, below the the Suncoast Trail pedestrian bridge in Brooksville. A driver headed westbound on Cortez saw three people up here. The next thing he heard was rocks hitting his windshield.

"There's a group of kids that were standing up on the walkway and they just impaled my car with rocks," the driver told the 911 operator. "I know one is wearing a white shirt and one is wearing a dark black shirt."

"They took off running down the trail towards County Line," the driver said.

Fortunately, he was okay. The windshield however, will need some repairs.

"We did find multiple rocks in the roadway," said Michael Terry, Public Information Officer with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. "They were about 2-3 inches in diameter each."

The Sheriff's Office discovered this was definitely no accident, nor was it intended to be a one-time thing.

"When the deputy went up to the pedestrian trail, he found 5-6 additional rocks  in a pile up there, so, they were planning to do some more when they encountered the first vehicle," Terry said.

While no one was hurt, that's sadly not always the case. Back in March, a central Texas woman was killed when someone threw a rock from a highway overpass. It crashed through Keila Flores' windshield and hit her in the passenger's seat, with her boyfriend and three children sitting feet away.

Hernando County deputies don't want that to happen here. 

"Those rocks could've caused him to lose control, crash, and possibly even die in a worst case scenario," Terry said.

Until those three suspects are caught, they're asking all drivers to be extra cautious.

"If you see somebody on an overpass, you should be extra vigilant and try to be careful to avoid, best as you can, driving directly underneath them because who knows what they could be up to," Terry said.

The suspects are described as three males, approximately 20 years old. Unfortunately, there are no surveillance cameras on or near the trail to provide more details. If arrested, they face charges of Criminal Mischief as well as Throwing a Deadly Missile, a second-degree felony.