Atlanta

Man injured when someone threw boulder off bridge on Beltline

ATLANTA — A man is recovering after someone threw a boulder off an overpass on the Beltline.

Tom Walsh told Channel 2's Sophia Choi it happened on the Virginia Avenue overpass in December.

“All of a sudden, something crashed into my right shoulder,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the boulder nailed him on his arm, which left him black and blue for weeks.

Police said it was a bunch of kids, probably middle schoolers who threw the boulder.

Walsh said the impact knocked him on the ground.

“The pain was so searing, I fell off the bike,” Walsh said.

Walsh said he still sore about a month after the incident.

“I was pretty damaged for about a week or two,” Walsh said. “It could have hit me in the face easily and lost lots of teeth or it could have been very serious.”

“Obviously it’s a big deal, and something that we take seriously,” said Atlanta Police Department’s Path Force Commander Lt. Jeff Baxter.

Atlanta police said crime on the Beltline is rare, only four reported incidents last year.

“In 2017, we had approximately 2.4 million people go up and down the Beltline’s eastside trail, and that was the one and only rock throwing incident reported to us.”

APD said officers are constantly patrolling the Beltline. There’s also five surveillance cameras on the east side trail, but unfortunately not where Walsh was hit.

Walsh said he knows the Beltline is generally safe, but he wants people to be aware.

“My lesson in all this is I look up at the bridge every day,” Walsh said.