What may have started out as a game of “Let’s see what happens if. . .” could have had catastrophic consequences.
At least five New Mexicans escaped physical injury the evening of Memorial Day, but emotional and psychological scars may remain indefinitely.
A young Las Vegas man, Ben Trujillo, and his girlfriend, Heather Gardner, were driving in her car back to Albuquerque late Monday night. Traffic was heavier than usual.
Suddenly, the woman noticed a large boulder on the right-hand lane of I-25 south. She could have driven off the road, swerved to the left and possibly crashed into other traffic, or continued straight. A car going the speed limit travels at more than 100 feet per second. As it turned out, her car plowed into the rock, shearing off the catalytic converter, rupturing the gas tank, and leaving the couple shaken and stranded.
Fortunately, the gasoline did not ignite.
Trying to collect their bearings, the couple searched for an explanation. What would have caused a boulder, “as big as two bricks laid flat on each other,” as the man described it, to suddenly appear on the highway?
The couple were sure the rock had been there only a short time; otherwise, other motorists might have been affected. Shortly after stopping, they became aware of a pickup with a camper a short distance away, and a third vehicle. The driver, an off-duty Albuquerque policeman, said someone had thrown an apple-sized rock through the passenger’s window, and though fragments landed on his wife’s lap, she was shaken but not injured. They were traveling with a toddler, in a car seat in the back, and friends were traveling behind them.
Ben and Heather called a wrecker; the policeman called state police. The wrecker arrived before police.
Ben said at first he assumed it was an act of nature that caused the boulder to be on the highway. Perhaps a heavy rain created such a situation. Another possibility was that it fell out of a truck hauling rocks. But the layout of the land is not such that would allow 20-pound boulders to float uphill, and that kind of boulder is not generally transported and sold.
The only reasonable conclusion was a deliberate act of vandalism. The fact that the incidents occurred only seconds apart suggests they were planned. Rocks don’t just propel themselves through people’s car windows. Big rocks don’t simply appear on roads.
The couples pondered the possible advantages. Were the culprits angry at the world? Was it part of a sadistic initiation? Were they just bored people looking for excitement?
Far from just the physical damage to two vehicles, the action represents a heinous distortion of morality, or even of “fun.”
What can we infer about driving in the dark again? Interstate highways are designed to be wide, free of obstructions, have limited access, and virtually unlimited visibility. This incident happened near mile marker 299, in Santa Fe County, in an area where trees and homes are close to the road.
Some of the possible scenarios include a panicked driver swerving wildly and flipping the car, possibly killing people. Another is a vulnerable motorist, such as a motorcyclist, who wouldn’t have much opportunity to take evasive action.
Most perplexing is what must be going on in the heads of those responsible. Did they strut home, telling family members about the “fun time” they had? Is this a story that got passed around the school campus the next day, assuming the act was committed by school-agers? Or does one of them plan to hold this action close to his heart and some day be able to say to his grand-daughter, “You know, when I was young, we used to throw rocks at cars on the freeway. We could have killed somebody . . .” What doting grand-daughter, on grandpa’s knee, wouldn’t revel at a retelling of such exploits, often embellished through repetition?
Did the vandals stay and watch? Do they regard motorists’ frantic efforts to keep the car under control the same way they manipulate video game controls?
Fiscally, those involved in the incident didn’t go home any richer. By heaving and toting a couple of rocks, the vandals created a situation that was potentially catastrophic. And in minutes, they’ve become important in their own eyes. Had there been a fatality, would the “perps” have cared?
Five people affected by the incident are thankful they’re alive today. As for those who perpetrated these acts, one would hope they realize the enormity of such actions and vow never to do it again. Regrettably, where there are no consequences, there’s little motivation to reform. And unfortunately, those who hoisted the boulders probably don’t read columns like this.
We can hope those deluded, demented and depraved people would somehow grow a conscience. The Albuquerque policeman later said that even though the case is under investigation, “nothing’s going to happen until somebody gets killed.”
The heinous act is tantamount to attempted murder. It is hoped that if anyone can shed light on this event that they contact the police.
And as writer of Work of Art, I have a keen interested in this case, in the hopes nobody ever becomes a victim of such a rash “prank”
Finally, I’m also interested in this incident because Ben Trujillo is my son. Meanwhile, please be observant and extremely cautious as you drive.