Homeless man charged for throwing rocks onto LA freeway, driver critically injured

HIGHLAND PARK, Calif. (FOX 11) - For quite some time, someone had been throwing rocks and other objects onto the 110 freeway causing several close calls and some minor injuries. But nothing was done until it nearly killed a man coming from home from work.

Now Jose Osuna is confined to a wheelchair and he's unable to communicate. His family says Jose is simply a shell of the man he used to be.

Earlier this year, the 56 year old was healthy and happy. But on his way home from work, while traveling northbound on the 110 freeway at Avenue 43 through Highland Park, someone threw a brick through a hole in the chain link fence over the bridge overlooking the 110 freeway.

The brick shattered the windshield and struck Jose in the face and neck. He was unconscious when he crashed into the center divider. Jose suffered severe head trauma and was in a coma for two months. Doctors told the family, he will likely never recover from his injuries.

What the family later learned, is that this wasn't an isolated incident.

They were told at the hospital that throughout the year, other people had been rushed to the emergency room after being hurt by someone throwing rocks onto the 110 freeway and it had happened at the very same location.

FOX 11 News verified those claims and learned through police documents that people had been reporting a homeless man for throwing rocks onto the freeway.

The homeless man, identified as Rudy Simental Jr. allegedly liked watching cars get into accidents. Witnesses told police Simental once threw a telephone pole onto an off ramp in an attempt to have it roll down onto oncoming traffic.

Jose's family couldn't believe this had been going on for nearly a year.

Simmental was finally arrested. He is now in jail facing two felony counts of intent to cause great harm and assault with a deadly weapon. Police say the suspect has a history of mental illness and homelessness.

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