Public helps ID protester after car window smashed while on bridge

One man faces charges after a window of a car was smashed during a protest on the Cambridge Street (Falmouth) Bridge on Monday, sending shattered glass falling on a one-year-old, police said. Stafford law enforcement officials tell us:

The suspect who broke a car window, spreading glass onto a one-year-old child, during a protest on the Falmouth Bridge on Monday evening has been arrested by deputies with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. On June 1, 2020, at approximately 6:54 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a group of about 200 protesters blocking traffic on the Falmouth Bridge. Upon arrival, they learned a vehicle occupied by two adults and a one-year-old child became stuck in the crowd. As the vehicle attempted to make its way through the crowd, some protesters began striking the vehicle. At this time, one of the protestors broke the rear passenger window of the vehicle with a scooter. The shattered glass landed on the one-year-old child and both adults. One of the adults sustained cuts on the arm from the glass. Through tips from the public, detectives were able to identify the suspect who broke the window as Victor Miles II, 32, of Stafford. On the evening of June 2, 2020, Miles was taken into custody and incarcerated at Rappahannock Regional Jail on a secured bond on charges of vandalism, unlawful wounding, two counts of assault and battery, and contributing to delinquency of a minor. He was later released. We would like to thank the public for their assistance with this investigation.

A video of the incident posted to Instagram shows a man walking up to the car and using an object to smash the car's window, at the 1 minute, 10 second mark. Many of the protesters were urging the man not to touch the car and let it proceed on the bridge into Stafford County, the video shows.

View this post on Instagram

Police throw gas at protestors, Driver panics.... Police begin to tear gas bridge with people trapped in their cars. Gas was deployed prior to window as seen in video... #540 #fredericksburg #blacklivesmatter #georgefloyd

A post shared by Dakota Sexton (@kodawitdasoda_) on Jun 1, 2020 at 3:53pm PDT

After the car window was smashed, Stafford Sheriff deputies fired teargas canisters at the protesters, driving them back into Fredericksburg City. The incident was the first in a series of riots in Fredericksburg on that evening, following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd on May 25, 2020.