Family’s shock as bottle thrown from Horsham bridge hits car

A dad and his two young children had a narrow escape when a bottle hit the roof of their car after being thrown off a Horsham bridge.
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Dad Jon Olson - a Forest Neighbourhood councillor - was driving along Albion Way at around 5.15pm on Thursday when the bottle hit his car as he approached the RSA building bridge, splintering the vehicle’s sun roof.

His six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son were in the car at the time.

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Shocked Jon said he at first thought the car had been hit from a falling ice block. “I thought ‘oh my gosh’.

A bottle thrown onto passing traffic in Albion Way damaged a vehicle's sun roofA bottle thrown onto passing traffic in Albion Way damaged a vehicle's sun roof
A bottle thrown onto passing traffic in Albion Way damaged a vehicle's sun roof

“We all screamed and it toook a while to figure out what was happening.

“We were at the traffic lights and I was in the middle of a four-lane dual carriageway.

“I pulled up as soon as I could. I just saw this crack in the car roof. It didn’t shatter, thank God, but as I accelerated away again the bottle rolled onto the windsreen.

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“I would never have thought the object came from that bridge. Someone must have thrown it.

John OlsonJohn Olson
John Olson

“I don’t know if it was deliberately targeted at me or was someone just chucking a bottle away.”

Jon pulled into a roadway near the Black Jug pub and asked passersby if they had seen anything, but no-one had.

He is now hoping local businesses might have CCTV images of what happened.

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He said the bottle was unusual and was a ‘Calypso light lemonade bottle.’

Meanwhile, Sussex Police are investigating. A spokesman said: “We received a report of criminal damage to a car in Albion Way, Horsham, at 5.46pm on Thursday, August 5.

“The incident happened at the junction between Madeira Avenue and Park Street at about 5.15pm.

“Any witnesses are asked to report information to Sussex Police online or call 101 and quote serial 1198 of 05/08.”

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