Two Putnam County juveniles were arrested last week in connection with several incidents of vehicles damaged by rocks thrown, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said.
The two boys are each 14 years old; authorities are not identifying them due to their age. They were arrested Friday, Nov. 7, and face charges of terroristic threats and acts, criminal damage to property in the second degree, and reckless conduct, Sills said.
“It’s multiple counts of each charge,” he said.
“And I want to stress the fact that their parents have been very cooperative with us and brought them in when we notified them,” he added.
A juvenile intake officer did not authorize detention, so the two young men were returned to their parents' custody.
Five different vehicles were damaged while traveling the 1200 block of Monticello Road between 10 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, according to Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Staff Russell Blenk.
Four of the incidents involved rocks being thrown from the side of the road in the dark. Blenk said the rocks were thrown from both sides of the road at vehicles traveling both eastbound and westbound. The rocks struck and shattered the windshields of some vehicles, while damaging the sides of others.
Dashcam videos from some of the vehicles revealed the rock hitting the windshield just in front of the driver, and shattering the windshield.
“That could’ve killed somebody,” Blenk said. “It’s a terroristic act to do this.”
Instead of being hit by rocks, the fifth vehicle ran into a log lying on the road, which was believed to have been intentionally placed there, Blenk said.
When asked what the motivation was to throw rocks, Sills said, “They had gotten hold of some alcohol and consumed it.”
“Cpl. Chris Donovan worked the case, and he did a good job finding out who did it,” Sills noted.