DATE: Tuesday, April 8, 1997                TAG: 9704080284

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   67 lines

ROCK THROWN FROM OVERPASS PUTS TEEN DRIVER IN HOSPITALIT WAS THE THIRD VEHICLE STRUCK WITHIN 6 MINUTES UNDER THE SUFFOLK OVERPASS.

A Nansemond River High School baseball player had to undergo facial surgery - and he may face more - after a rock reportedly thrown by youths shattered his windshield, causing the vehicle to crash.

It was the third vehicle struck within six minutes beneath an overpass Thursday night, police said. Another driver was injured Saturday in the same spot when a rock hit her car.

Evan Spivey, 17, and four Nansemond River baseball teammates were on U.S. Route 17, on their way to Churchland in Portsmouth to eat after a game Thursday when their vehicle was hit as it traveled under the Western Freeway overpass about 8 p.m.

A rock the size of a baseball shattered the windshield of the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe that Spivey was driving and struck him in the nose, knocking him unconscious, his mother, Lucille Spivey, said Monday.

When her son slumped over, a passenger grabbed the wheel, she said. The rider was unable to reach the brake, and the Tahoe jumped the median and ran into the opposite lane before crashing into a guard rail, she said.

Spivey underwent surgery later Thursday night at Maryview Hospital in Portsmouth to repair bones in his face, his mother said, and he may face additional surgery.

``Three inches higher and he could have been blind, or it could have killed him,'' his mother said as her son's friends gathered in his room after ball practice Monday.

The left side of Spivey's face hit a post of the Tahoe. The front seat passenger received minor injuries.

In a game Friday night, as Spivey recuperated at home, his teammates wore the number 20 - the first baseman's uniform number - on their caps.

Police said two boys had been seen under the overpass about one minute before the accident by a driver in front of Spivey. He told police he saw them raise their arms and throw objects, and he said his truck was hit by rocks and sticks. He described the two as African Americans about 5 feet 9 and 5 feet 10 inches tall and wearing dark clothing, police said, but he could not estimate their ages.

Spivey, a junior at Nansemond River, keeps asking what happened to him, his mother said Monday.

As many as 100 friends were at her house, in the 6500 block of Ferry Point Road, last weekend, waiting until he felt like talking or just chatting quietly with one another, she said.

This account of the incidents was given Monday by Suffolk police spokesman Mike Simpkins:

About 8:10 p.m. Thursday, a rock shattered the front passenger window of a van driven by Debra L. Hines, 40, of the 2800 block of Colonial Drive. The vehicle also was scratched.

Five minutes later, rocks and sticks scratched and dented a pickup truck driven by Richard L. Nierman III, 32, of the 1500 block of White Dogwood Trail.

A minute later, the large piece of granite smashed into the windshield of Spivey's vehicle, sending glass flying. All the vehicles were heading toward Portsmouth on Route 17, Bridge Road.

About 12:50 p.m. Saturday, a rock smashed through the driver's window and struck Evelyn J. Brett, 49, scraping her left wrist and the left side of her face. She lives in the 3700 block of Concord Drive.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Line at 539-1222 or the police dispatcher at 925-6350. ILLUSTRATION: Map

Area shown: Rock thrown from overpass KEYWORDS: ROCK THROWING ACCIDENT TRAFFIC SUFFOLK

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu