July 12, 2021
King County: At approximately 4:00am on July 10th, 2021 Washington State Patrol (WSP) communications received a 9-1-1 call from a witness that observed an individual throwing debris onto WB I-90 near Rainier Ave. from behind a fence along the freeway.
Troopers responded to the area and with the help of the witness the suspect was located and arrested walking along Rainier Ave.
The suspect refused to provide his personal information however was later identified as Nicholas Ryan Sousa, 35 year old male. Sousa was taken to Harborview due him stating he had ingested Heroine prior to his arrest. Once medically cleared Sousa was booked into jail for investigation of Reckless Endangerment, Malicious Mischief 3rd and Criminal Trespass 2nd. Fortunately no vehicles were struck by the debris that was thrown.
In addition to this incident two more were reported early this morning. The first one was around 3:00am WB I-90 in the area of Rainier in which witnesses stated a subject wearing a tan hat, black jacket and a headlamp was in the lanes of I-90 throwing debris. No vehicles were struck and troopers immediately responded to the area but were unable to locate the suspect.
The second incident occurred just before 4:00am in the same area WB 90 near Rainier. The victim reported that an individual was pushing a shopping cart in lane 1 and threw a rock that came through his windshield. Thankfully no injuries were sustained by the driver. Troopers responded to the area but were unable to locate the suspect.
Year to date in King County the WSP has had 161 total reports of rocks being thrown. This number includes all of the freeways patrolled by troopers. Of the 161, 44 have been coded as coming from an overpass leaving the remaining 117 to be incidents involving rocks/debris being thrown from the side of the freeway.
The WSP is encouraged to have been able to make another arrest but also understands there are more individual(s) that are committing this dangerous crime. Continue to call 9-1-1 with a location and description of any pedestrians along the freeway even if they are not throwing debris. All agencies involved NEED the public’s help!
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