Vehicle window shattered on busy highway

YELM, Wash. — It was the kind of shock no driver wants to experience behind the wheel.

Jennifer Patience was driving home from her job in Yelm on Tuesday when something powerful shattered one of the windows on her vehicle.

"It scared me really, for a second there I didn't remember how to call 911," she said.

Detectives say multiple drivers in Thurston County also had their windows shattered while driving in the exact same spot as Patience: on State Route 507 by Shaw Road. No one seems to know who or what is behind the series of eerily similar incidents.

"It's pretty shocking that it's still going on in the same area multiple times," Patience said.

In February, KIRO 7 spoke to several drivers who had bullets strike their vehicles on SR 507 by Shaw Road. In those cases, detectives were able to determine it was a bullet by analyzing the trajectory.

A deputy with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office didn't think Tuesday's case was a bullet.

"They didn't feel like it could high powered or anything like that, could be a slingshot," Patience said.

Bill and Angel Pflugmacher also live in Yelm and say the intersection is becoming notorious for this dangerous crime.

"It's just something about that specific spot that there's something wrong," Angel said.

KIRO 7 asked law enforcement officials what's being done about the ongoing problem and learned the answer is complicated.

Washington State Patrol said SR 507 happens to be in an area of Yelm where no agency really claims jurisdiction, leaving victims feeling like they're getting the "run around" from detectives.

"I don’t want somebody to die in order for something to happen," Pflugmacher said.

KIRO 7 also asked Yelm Police and the Thurston County Sheriff's Office who is handling this investigation. Both said it's the responsibility of WSP, though a spokesperson for the agency said it did not receive calls recently about windows being broken on cars.

It's frustrating for victims like Patience who hope another driver doesn't suffer the same experience.

"I know police don’t know exactly what it is and if it's an accident or on purpose," she said, "I think there's a lot more maybe that's happening that's not getting reported."

NOTE: This story headline was updated. It is not clear what shattered the window in the most recent case, and a deputy with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office didn't think the window was broken by a bullet.

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