EPHRATA, Pa. — Three Lancaster County men are facing vandalism charges after police say they were caught spray-painting graffiti on an overpass bridge in West Earl Township.
Matthew Reiff, 19, of Newville, Michael Stoltzfus, 21, of Bird in Hand, and John Kauffman, 19, of Upper Leacock, were charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and criminal mischief in the alleged incident, which occurred Saturday night at a bridge carrying Miley Road across Route 222, according to West Earl Township Police.
The trio is accused of spray painting several anti-police slogans and images on the bridge, which is a frequent site of vandalism, trash dumping, drug use and other illegal activities, police said.
They were arrested at about 10 p.m. when West Earl Township Police Sgt. Jordan Bynes was patrolling the area and observed the suspects quickly throwing items into the trunk of a parked vehicle as he approached.
Byrnes exited his vehicle and observed fresh spray-painted graffiti on the bridge surface and on the walls of the bridge, police said. He also observed several spray paint cans on the bridge matching the same color as the fresh graffiti, and noted the odor of fresh spray paint.
An on-scene investigation led to the arrests of all three for possession of marijuana and criminal mischief, police said. All three suspects were transported to the West Earl Township Police Department where they were processed and released.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation estimated that the cost to remove the graffiti to be over $4,000.
