CHP arrests suspect in spate of Highway 101 projectile attacks

Agency investigated 69 incidents along Highway 101 in Prunedale area, State Route 156

SALINAS » A 52-year-old man is in custody following a nearly yearlong series of projectile attacks along Central Coast highways, authorities said.

Since Feb. 19, 2019, the California Highway Patrol Monterey area office has investigated 69 incidents in which vehicles traveling along Highway 101 in the Prunedale area and

Highway 156 in San Benito County were hit by projectiles.

At least four adults and one child were injured by broken glass, the CHP said in a Facebook post Thursday night.

The CHP said Charles Kenneth Lafferty was arrested in connection with the attacks following an “exhaustive and multi-faceted” investigation.

While Lafferty was allegedly found with a silencer, investigators believe he carried out each one of the attacks with a slingshot and glass marbles, not a firearm, the CHP said.

Lafferty was booked into Monterey County jail on 10 felony counts of throwing an object at a motor vehicle and one felony count of possession of a silencer. He is being held on $250,000 bail.

“On behalf of all of us here at Monterey CHP, and the countless investigators who were assigned to this case in one capacity or another, thank you for your patience and support during this investigation,” said CHP Capt. Kyle Foster in a statement.

“We are confident Mr. Lafferty committed these crimes and that our communities are now safer.”

Anyone with information about the incidents can contact the CHP Monterey area office at 831-7708000.