Gaylord man charged after rock thrown at truck, 7-year-old injured
Charles E. RamirezA Gaylord man is facing charges for allegedly throwing a rock from a moving car that struck a minivan and injured a 7-year-old girl Saturday.
State police officials said troopers from the Gaylord Post were called at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday to McCoy near Evergreen Drive in Bagley Township for a report of an assault.
According to a preliminary investigation, someone in a vehicle had thrown a large rock at a truck traveling behind it. The rock ricocheted off the truck and went through the windshield of a minivan traveling in the opposite direction.
Police said a 7-year-old girl who was in the back seat of the minivan suffered minor injuries from glass flying from the windshield. They also recovered the large rock from inside the minivan.
Troopers spoke to several witnesses during the investigation. One of them, the driver of the truck initially targeted told them he, his girlfriend and their two children were traveling on Plywood Road, about 3.5 miles from the scene of the incident, when they saw her ex-boyfriend traveling in the opposite direction in a Jeep.
The witness identified the ex-boyfriend as Brandon Allen Clifton, 31, of Gaylord.
He told the troopers Clifton saw them, slammed on his brakes, spun around and followed them.
They traveled onto McCoy Road where Clifton passed them, slammed on his brakes again, and produced a large rock from inside his Jeep, the truck's driver said. Clifton then threw the rock at the truck, he said.
Troopers arrested Clifton and took him to the Otsego County Jail to await charges.
He was arraigned Monday in 87-B District Court in Gaylord on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, a four-year felony, and a charge of malicious destruction of personal property valued at more than $1,000 but less than $20,000, a five-year felony, and littering-leaving an object in the path of a vehicle, a one-year misdemeanor.
A judge set Clifton's bond at $2,000 and scheduled his next court appearance for Thursday, according to court records.