25-Year-Old California Driver Killed by Rock Thrown Through Windshield

A California woman is dead after an unknown assailant threw a large rock through her windshield as she drove along a Southern California highway earlier this week.

Sarina Rodriguez, 25, and her boyfriend, Franko Martinez, were on Highway 138 in the Antelope Valley shortly after midnight Tuesday traveling home to Lancaster when the incident occurred.

Martinez told KTLA he heard a popping sound and saw Martinez unconscious. He grabbed the steering wheel and stopped the car, and that’s when he saw a hole in the windshield.

The rock hit Rodriguez and instantly killed her.

It’s not clear if the rock came from a passing vehicle or from someone on the side of the road, but it was the second such incident reported this week in the same area. On Sunday night, a rock came through another vehicle’s window, injuring two people.

And on Thursday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said it had arrested Alexander Veloz for throwing rocks at vehicle the same morning Rodriguez was killed. It’s not known if he had any connection with either of the earlier cases. Veloz was arrested about 40 miles from where Rodriguez was killed.

Anyone with information is urged to call the California Highway Patrol at 323-259-3200.

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[Featured image: Sarina Rodriguez/GoFundMe]