Truck driver robbed by hooligans wielding… bottle rockets?

Rafael Diaz Jr. was just trying to do his job as an oil-tanker driver last week, when a group of teens in an Atlanta neighborhood shot a bottle rocket at his cab. The pyrotechnic novelty hit him in the face, causing him to lose control of his 18-wheeled truck; that marks the spot in this story where it's definitely no longer funny. The worst was yet to come. The youths pulled the driver from the overturned rig and beat him to a pulp so they could steal his wallet. Diaz remains in critical condition. At least one other Atlanta truck driver reported a similar bottle rocket assault, and a third was attacked with the more traditional technique of thrown bricks. Hopefully this doesn't turn into some sort of new national trend, such as the pandemic of objects dropped from overpasses a few years ago.