3 Teens Charged In Aspinwall Car Vandalisms

ASPINWALL, Pa. -- Police in Aspinwall have arrested three teenagers accused of vandalizing dozens of cars with baseball bats and pellet guns last week.

Raymond Anthony Niebel, 18, of O’Hara Township, was taken into custody at Fox Chapel High School. He is charged with possessing instruments of a crime and corruption of minors.

Two 15-year-olds were also taken into custody. Their names haven’t been released.

Police said they were able to catch Niebel because a witness reported that his green pickup truck was the getaway vehicle.

"In this case, the investigation was able to identify the vehicle and the operator. Through the course of the investigation three individuals were developed as suspects," said Lt. Jeff Korczyk of the Allegheny County Police Department.

Police said the suspects smashed windows on 45 cars in the community.

No items were taken from the cars, police said. They believe the teens were driving around town with the sole intention of breaking windows.

"People were with their families and had to deal with all the stress of that and all the damage that was done to their vehicles so it was quite disheartening to the families," said Aspinwall Police Chief John Sabol.

Police said they were able to recover one of the BB guns and a baseball bat used in the vandalisms. Repair estimates range from a few hundred dollars to thousands per car.

“My daughter actually saw it first,” said victim Jeff Nelson. “She was getting in the car and she said, ‘Holy cow, your windows are all broken out.’"

“My window was knocked out,” said victim Jim Teitz. “It was shattered. It was completely shattered. And they didn't try to get into the car. Nothing was taken."

The Aspinwall spree was one of several during the holidays. Police said they are now working to see if the teens are connected to the other cases.

Dozens of cars were also damaged in Coraopolis and Lawrenceville. Police said both cases were very similar to the Aspinwall crimes.