Camo-clad cop catches man putting 20kg rocks on quiet road to destroy vehicles

25 August 2023 , 19:18

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31-year-old Cameron Currier was arrested after a police detective staked out the road to catch the culprit (Image: Kingston Police)

For the last six months, police have been trying to work out why rocks, some as heavy as 22kg (50lbs), were appearing in the middle of a rural road with thick woods either side in a quiet coastal town.

But after months of investigation, the perseverance of camo-clad cop sitting out in the "pouring rain" captured the culprit. After months of investigating, police finally had their alleged man - identified as 31-year-old Cameron Currier, of Reed Street, Kingston.

Police in Kingston, Massachusetts, have been investigating the "series" of large rocks or boulders in the road since February 2023. Police say the events took place "sporadically, mostly during darkness" along Pembroke Street near Reed Street.

They said: "Each time, it appeared a single large rock (varying between approximately 15 and 50 pounds [6kg - 22kg]) was being placed in the middle of the roadway. This portion of the road, spanning less than 1/2 mile, is heavily wooded and dark with no residences abutting the roadway.

Rocks weighing between 6kg and 22kg were found in the middle of the road (Kingston Police)

"It became apparent someone was maliciously placing these rocks on the road to cause damage to the vehicles. As frequency and severity of the events increased, Kingston PD Detectives took over the investigation in June."

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According to police, on multiple occasions, it "appeared someone may have struck a rock and continued on". However, on other occasions "the vehicle's undercarriage were being ripped out, causing fluid spills, disabling vehicles and even causing airbag deployments."

Austin Myette was one of the drivers who hit a "foot-by-a-foot tall" boulder while driving along the road. He said the impact "shattered my oil pan, lost all my fluids, both my air bags went off, shattered my windshield, gave me a concussion."

He said: "If I hit it another way, it could have killed me, it could have rolled the car."

There was concern from police that serious injury or even deaths could happen as a result of the rocks in the road (Kingston Police)

Dustin Starr, another local driver, was headed back home in April when he hit a 22kg rock in the road. He said he kept the rock for insurance reasons, and recalled how it "just launched up, went way up and smacked right down."

"What a jerk, you know?" he said. "I couldn't imagine doing that to somebody over and over and over again knowing that it's causing that damage and getting a kick out of it because, obviously, he kept doing it for a long time."

With this "incredibly dangerous" situation, there was growing concern someone may be seriously injured or killed "whether it be striking a rock while operating a motorcycle or striking a rock, crossing the centre line, and causing a head-on collision." Due to the inconsistencies of reports and the area it happened, police said the investigation took "significant effort".

However, on August 21 a cunning plan involving camo-clad cops paid off. Kingston Police had a detective, in "full camouflage", in the woods at around 10pm. The cop sat out "in the pouring rain" according to police and had "planned to remain" overnight to keep an eye on the area.

Police said there was damage evident on the road as a result of the boulders (Kingston Police)

Focused on his task, Detective Francis' perseverance paid off. Police said that just before midnight, Detective Francis "observed a suspect vehicle stop, tailgate open, a rock then left in the vehicle's place in the middle of the road, and the vehicle then pull onto Reed Street."

There had been no other vehicles observed pulling into Reed Street during the surveillance, so police followed the suspect and caught up with him on his porch around 10 minutes after the rock had been left. Currier admitted to driving the matching vehicle police had just seen offload the rock and having just arrived home, however, he denied stopping on Pembroke Street.

"But," police said, "apparently was unaware that our detective viewed the entire event from the woodline."

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More inconsistencies were identified in Currier's story and as a result other probable cause was gathered. Detective Francis along with other officers arrested the suspect.

31-year-old Cameron Currier was arrested after a police detective staked out the road to catch the culprit (Kingston Police)

Currier was held on $1,500 (£1,191) bail and was scheduled for arraignment at Plymouth District Court on the morning of Wednesday. August 22. According to police: "The defendant's residence is one of very [few] in the area that occupants would be able to hear the subsequent collisions and watch the emergency responses to the crashes caused by these malicious acts."

Police have requested criminal charges on 11 counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle for each known vehicle damaged, and nine counts of attempt to commit a crime, specifically damage to a motor vehicle for each time a rock was found on the roadway with no known victim vehicles.

An attorney for Currier said in court on Tuesday there is "barely probably cause" in the case. They noted "the only thing that they have that connects this particular defendant to all of these crimes is one instance where they have an officer in either camouflage or a ghillie suit sitting in the woods who has no camera."

Police believe there are more victims as it was "apparent that some of these rocks that were found had been struck" but the driver "likely discovered damage later" and used insurance or paid for repairs out of their own pocket. Therefore, anyone who hit a rock along the area, Route 27, near Reed Street from February 2023 now yards is being asked to contact Kingston Police Detectives Division.

Fiona Leishman