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Rock tossed from cliff smashes truck sunroof on 70-stretch of Mystery Lake Road

A routine drive to work turned into a startling and costly experience for a Thompson resident May 24.

A routine drive to work turned into a startling and costly experience for a Thompson resident May 24.

Roy Yaciuk wrote about the experience in the local Facebook discussion group Thompson Talk, relating how he was driving to work on Mystery Lake Road near the cliffs below Highland Tower when a rock flew down from the air and landed on his truck’s sunroof, smashing the glass.

Yaciuk told the Thompson Citizen he heard a noise and saw glass on top of the inside cover of the two-part sunroof, the back section of which was smashed. The rock was still there and as he looked up the Rotary Club sledding hill that stretches down from the wolf mural towards Mystery Lake Road he saw two or three figures running away.

“They’re lobbing it up,” said Yaciuk. “The rock was the width of a hardball or tennis ball. It didn't frighten me so much because I had the cover. I was lucky it didn’t go through the windshield or the front of the sunroof because then it would have hit me.”

Getting the glass replaced will take a few days and cost Yaciuk the $200 deductible on his vehicle insurance.

Yaciuk said he’s tried to reach Mayor Colleen Smook to talk to her about the situation and also mentioned it to Coun. Judy Kolada when he happened to see her after the incident. He also plans to attend a council or public safety committee meeting to bring his concerns forward.

“One of these times someone’s going to get killed,” he said, reasoning that it is probably teenagers throwing the rocks. “They don’t think of the consequences.”

Yaciuk thinks one solution would be to clear the trees and bush along the cliff and put in fences to prevent would-be rock throwers from getting close to the road.

“Something’s got to be done,” he said, noting that similar incidents were reported last year. “We’re going to see a lot of frustration in this town because it’s going to be a busy year for the RCMP.”

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