STEWARTSTOWN BOROUGH, Pa.–Two teenage boys are facing charges after police say they slashed tires and wrote derogatory comments about police on the windows of a car wash at a Stewartstown gas station.
Officers from Southern Regional Police Department responded to the parking lot of a Rutter’s along West Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday shortly after midnight for an unrelated DUI call. While they were investigating, a passerby alerted the officers after spotting two suspicious teenagers hiding behind the car wash.
Officers found the teens, ages 14 and 15, hiding nearby. Police say both teens had alcohol in their system and wrote derogatory comments about police on the condensation on the car wash windows. The teens were released into the custody of their guardians.
Later in the morning, police received numerous reports of vehicles parked along Broadway that had their tires cut. Authorities say a total of 8 vehicles had been vandalized. Police linked the two teens whom they had a run in with earlier to the tire slashings.
Authorities discovered teens had been drinking when they walked to Rutter’s to get food. They became upset they couldn’t go into the Rutter’s because police were in the parking lot investigating a DUI, so they slashed the tires. Damage is estimated at $1,500.
The teens are charged with underage drinking and criminal mischief.