Youth Who Threw Rocks on Freeway Sentenced

A 15-year-old Redondo Beach boy, part of a gang of teen-agers who seriously injured a motorist during a freeway rock-throwing spree in December, has been sentenced to the maximum eight years in a youth detention center.

The boy, whose name was not released because of his age, had pleaded guilty May 20 to mayhem, assault and other charges stemming from the Dec. 21 “thrill-seeking” incident on the San Diego Freeway (405).

At least 10 people were injured, including an Orange County man who lost control of his car after a 10-pound concrete chunk thrown by the boys smashed through his windshield.

Ali Reshamwalla, 55, suffered severe head injuries, and other motorists suffered cuts and bruises, Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Chomel said.

The boys hid in the freeway median behind tall construction screens, tossing rocks and concrete chunks ranging in size from a baseball to a bowling ball onto the southbound lanes of the freeway in Torrance.

Two other participants in the attack, 18-year-old Gary Dean Nelson and 17-year-old Joshua McDonald, are expected to go on trial today or next week, Chomel said.

McDonald is being tried as an adult. They face 13 years in state prison if convicted.

Authorities think that another person, a juvenile, participated in the attack, but they do not have enough evidence to charge him.

The boys bombarded the cars because they were bored, Chomel said, adding, “It was a thrill-seeking adventure.”