Rockhampton Uber passenger recalls scary windscreen ‘body slam’ moment

A woman who was a passenger in a Uber when a teenager allegedly ‘body slammed’ the windscreen of the moving vehicle, has spoken about the scary incident.

The damaged Uber vehicle and (inset) passenger Molly Hanna.

A Rockhampton mother has told of the scary moment she was a front seat passenger in a Uber when a teenager allegedly “body slammed” the windscreen of the moving vehicle in an unprovoked attack.

The incident happened on East Street in Rockhampton’s CBD about 8.40pm on New Year’s Eve and is subject to an ongoing police investigation.

Police initially said it appeared a teenage boy had “purposely ran and jumped onto the windscreen” before running off with other people, and passenger Molly Hanna says she believes the act was deliberate.

“We were in the Uber travelling to the Oxford Hotel on East Street,” Ms Hanna said.

“I was sitting in the front passenger seat and noticed a large group of teens, to be between the ages of 12 and 15, walking on the opposite side of the road.

“They noticed the Uber as we were driving past Menswear Direct and the whole group started jogging towards us.”

Ms Hanna said one of the teens, who appeared to be the oldest in the group, then “sprinted” towards the Uber and “purposely jumped onto the windscreen”.

“His bum hit it (windscreen) first and then his head hit in a secondary impact.

“He then rolled off of the Uber onto his feet and yelled ‘woo!’

“He immediately sprinted away while the rest of the group started hitting and punching the driver side of the Uber.”

The windscreen of this Uber vehicle was smashed in an incident in the Rockhampton CBD on New Year's Eve.

Ms Hanna said she immediately called police and she told the Uber driver to “drive down and park in the front of the Printworks”.

“We were informed by witnesses that the teens had run down to the NAB and were hanging around there, and then they went to the bridge.

“The police were very quick to respond.”

Ms Hanna said she and her fellow passengers were left shaken by the incident.

“It was pretty shocking because I didn’t actually expect him (teen boy) to jump onto the car.

“The two girls I was with were in absolute shock as well.

“But I think the most shocking part for me was that he was completely fine and able to get up and run.

“I wholly believe he was on some type of drug.

“As a mum myself, I could not even imagine getting a call from the police saying that my son had done something like that.”

Molly Hanna.

Ms Hanna said her thoughts also went to the Uber driver.

“The whole night I couldn’t stop thinking about the poor Uber driver who then lost a whole night of work - probably the busiest night of the year.

“He’ll now have to go through the insurance process and have to pay the excess to have his windscreen replaced.

“He was in complete shock when this happened and he was visibly upset.”

Police said a teenage boy was “injured in the traffic crash”.

Ms Hanna took photographs of the smashed windscreen.

The red circle highlights the hair that was left in the shattered windscreen of the Uber vehicle.

“(In one of the photos) you can also see a huge chunk of hair was ripped out by the windscreen,” she said.

There are some suggestions that this type of unruly behaviour is not just a “one-off”.

After reading about the Uber incident, Raelene Steger said she had “a close call with some young people” on Albert Street on New Year’s Eve.

Then on Wednesday night, police were called to a North Rockhampton street where a group of four people, one armed with a shovel, were reportedly trying to hit passing cars.

On Thursday, January 5, Queensland Police Service said investigations were ongoing into the Uber incident and no charges had yet been laid.

This incident comes at a time of heightened community concern with juvenile crime and this week Rockhampton police detailed some of the measures they are taking to address a spike in stolen cars and break-ins around Central Queensland, including calling in PolAir.