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Rock Thrown Off Overpass Goes Through Man's Windshield

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A rock that was thrown off a freeway overpass nearly killed a driver below. Luckily, it only damaged his windshield.

Early Tuesday morning, Angelo Salas was driving southbound, near Concord, on Highway 52 in St. Paul when a huge rock came crashing through his windshield.

He said at the time of the incident, he didn't know what hit him.

"I could've died last night if I didn't control the car," Salas said.

Salas spent the day cleaning up damage from his horrifying drive. He was on his way home when someone tossed a huge rock off a pedestrian bridge.

He said he was driving about 60 miles per hour and the impact was strong.

"I didn't find the rock until this morning, under the backseat of the driver's seat. It sounded like a shotgun blast and glass just flew everywhere," said Salas.

Glass also hit him in the face.

"I was washing my eyes out," said Salas.

He said he didn't get a good look at who threw the rock. He's just glad he was able to steer the 2006 Dodge Magnum to safety. He said he's glad no one was riding with him.

"Oh, they would have been seriously hurt, that rock was about a five to eight pound rock," he said.

His girlfriend Kesone Phengthongsavath is usually his front seat passenger -- but luckily, this time she wasn't.

"I was literally freaked out, I was scared to death," she said. "I was thankful that my kid wasn't in there because he was telling me when it shattered, the glass, it was in the back, front, everywhere."

Besides luck, Salas might have a much great power on his side. He works for Little Sisters of the Poor and last night he found a rosary and decided to put it on.

"It was sitting on a chair and I picked it up, I meaning to put it in the lost and found, but I put it on and left it on -- I forgot that I even had it on," said Salas.

He said he was driving the same route on Saturday and someone tossed a soda bottle off the bridge.

He said he's going to have to pay to fix the windshield himself because his insurance only pays if the car is in a collision.

Sonya Goins, Producer
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