By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A plea has been entered by a Livingston County man charged with throwing a sandbag onto a woman’s car as she drove on I-96.

41-year-old David Vincent Garcia of Brighton was charged last year with three felony counts following an incident in Lyon Township; throwing objects at trains/cars causing serious impairment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, and malicious destruction of personal property.

In Oakland County Circuit Court Thursday, a previous defense motion to pursue an insanity defense was withdrawn, and instead, Garcia entered a no-contest plea to the charges.

He was charged after police say he threw a sandbag off of the Old Plank Road overpass over westbound I-96 on October 4th of 2020, seriously injuring Cindy Eckley of Livonia, who earlier testified that she suffered serious facial and eyes injuries when it came crashing through her windshield.

Michigan State Police say the incident occurred after Garcia crashed his truck at that location and then walked up onto the overpass and threw a 40-pound sandbag onto the freeway below. Garcia was then picked up by a passerby who drove him to his home in Brighton. During the drive, troopers say Garcia told the passerby what had happened. That driver then contacted State Police and gave them Garcia’s address. State Police says Garcia’s shoes matched footprints found in the sand at the crime scene.

Sentencing was set for June 15th. While the maximum penalty for the charges is ten years, because of a previous felonious assault conviction, Garcia will be sentenced as a habitual offender and could face up to 15 years in prison.