Boulder lands on car in Draper, barely misses driver
Apr 25, 2018, 12:58 PM
Gary Malin considers himself very lucky to be alive, and not injured today. He says a 50 to 60-pound boulder came crashing through his car Sunday, landing in his lap.
DRAPER, Utah – Heading home after a day of skiing Sunday, Gary Malin was struck with a rather large surprise.
“It happened so fast, I didn’t even get any time to think,” Malin said. “All of a sudden, boom! Like this big explosion went off.”
50-60 lbs. boulder that came crashing through Gary Malin’s car roof.
Malin says a roughly 50 to 60-pound boulder came crashing through the roof of his car, smashing up his windshield, before landing on his lap.
“The first thing I did, was I rubbed my face just to see if there was blood or anything,” Malin explained. “Because you know when that windshield exploded you know, boy, it was glass everywhere.”
Amazingly, Malin says he stepped out of the driver seat with not even a scratch on him.
“I’m just thankful,” Malin said. “When I saw that, and I saw myself, I was like you know what? Screw the car, man. That can be replaced, I can’t. So I’m very happy right now.”
Gary Malin considers himself very lucky to be alive, and not injured.
Malin initially presumed that the rock had naturally fallen off the mountainside, near his home in the Suncrest area. Instead, Draper Police say they later discovered some 9 and 10 year-old kids were playing up above.
Sergeant Scott Adams told KSL that the kids were very sorry and in tears when an officer arrived to speak to their parents.
“I get it. I was young too. I did stupid things,” Malin said. “Hopefully they learned their lesson.”
He also says he hopes this will serve as a lesson to other children that might consider the same thing. Police say because of the kids’ young ages, they will likely only get a stern warning. Adams said the kids’ parents will work with Malin to cover the damage.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Malin said. “I’m pretty fortunate that I didn’t get injured.”
