BRIGHTON (WWJ) A Brighton man with a lengthy criminal history has been sentenced to serve 4 to 75 years in prison after throwing a sandbag off an overpass.
Police say David Garcia, 41, crashed his truck on I-96 in Lyon Township last October before getting out and walking with a large sandbag up to the Old Plank Road overpass and throwing it onto the highway below.
It struck Cindy Eckley of Livonia as she was driving at 70 miles per hour, shattered her window and left her with severe facial injuries.
“It is no short of a miracle that I am able to speak and that I am still alive,” Eckley told FOX 2. She told the TV news station she has “permanent vision damage” from the glass and rocks in the sandbag.
Garcia has a record dating back nearly 30 years for a litany of charges including drunk driving, theft, felonious assault, domestic violence, and possession of marijuana.
He pleaded no contest back in April, and was sentenced Tuesday afternoon as a habitual offender on charges of assault causing serious injury and destruction of property.
The sentencing breaks down as follows: 4 to 15 years on Throwing Objects at Cars/Trains Causing Serious Impairment, 4 to 15 years for Assault With Intent To Do Great Bodily Harm, plus 4 to 75 years for Malicious Destruction of Property and being a habitual offender.