Darmstadt American rock-throwing incident
In 2000 near Darmstadt, Germany, three children of American soldiers threw rocks at cars on the B3 motorway from a pedestrian bridge near the Lincoln Village base. The 18-, 17-, and 14-year-olds had been meeting for weeks to throw rocks. One rock killed Karin Rothermel, 41, and her grandmother was seriously injured. Later, another rock killed Sandra Ottmann, 20, in a separate crash. A 15-year-old was questioned and released.
The three youths were convicted in a German court of two murders and related attempted murders, and they received sentences of about 7 to 8.5 years in juvenile detention. They were released after serving roughly half their sentences for good behavior and returned to the United States. The final verdict was upheld by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice on July 10, 2001. Wise was released in September 2003, Griff in May 2004, and Bissessar completed a painting course and was released the same day as Griff.
A similar rock-throwing incident occurred near the same base in 2003 but caused no injuries; the children involved were aged 5 to 9.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:55 (CET).