Throwing objects at cars is a common tradition among rebellious kids and teenagers, but this can easily turn into a serious incident. One man driving a Tesla in Ohio through West Chester Township suddenly found the car’s windshield smashed in when four teenagers lobbed a pineapple in his direction. Police had received multiple reports from other people that had grocery items thrown at their vehicles that night too. So it was only a matter of time before their bad behavior caught up with them.
The thrown pineapple caused considerable damage to the moving Tesla
On October 1 at around 11 p.m., police responded to a man who said a group of teenagers had caused significant damage to his Tesla near the 9000 block of Saxton Avenue after they had thrown a pineapple at the car’s windshield, according to a report by local outlet FOX 19.
The teenagers were later identified as three 18-year-olds — Jacob Braun, Danden Schlake, and Bronson Moore — and one 17-year-old whose name was not provided by authorities due to the person being a juvenile. Another outlet, Local 12, wrote on Facebook that two of the 18-year-olds were from Liberty Township, while the other was from Hamilton County.
As reported by WLWT, Adonai Vera was driving in a 2026 Tesla Model Y and going west on West Chester Road to pick up a pepperoni pizza when he saw a gray Chevrolet traveling in the opposite direction. That’s when the teens hurled a pineapple at his car, shattering the front windshield and causing “thousands of dollars of damage,” per a post by the West Chester Township on its official Facebook page.
When officers arrived at the scene, they were able to watch a playback of the incident by way of the Tesla’s video camera system. Police in the area were already on high alert since the man’s call was the third report that they had received of a vehicle whose passengers had thrown eggs from a car that evening.
Luckily, the Tesla driver was not hurt, but police say that a shattered windshield could have easily caused the driver to crash into another car or person.
All four teenagers were arrested within a half-hour of the incident
Fortunately, it didn’t take long before officers located the gray Chevrolet Traverse. At around 11:30 p.m., they made a traffic stop of the vehicle near Cincinnati Dayton Road and Station Road. An officer who approached the Chevrolet noticed dried egg yolk on the car.
All four teens were promptly arrested. Moore, Braun, and the 17-year-old minor were all charged with vehicular vandalism and complicity. Meanwhile, Schlake was only charged with complicity.
In a statement, Lt. David Tivin of the West Chester Police Department made it clear that this type of behavior from the teenagers was unacceptable.
“We take these matters extremely seriously,” Tivin said. “It’s much, much more than bad decisions and bad behavior. It’s reckless decisions and reckless behavior.”
He continued, “This is not fun and games. This isn’t kids running around throwing marshmallows at people. This is causing thousands of dollars of damage and is is literally putting people’s lives at lives at risk.”
Police are aware that similar incidents have occurred in the region and are cooperating with other law enforcement agencies in their investigations into the matter. They have asked anyone who has experienced similar incidents in the area to call their non-emergency dispatch line at 513-777-2231.
The four teenagers are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. West Chester Police says this case remains an active police investigation. More charges could follow if the teenagers are found responsible for throwing eggs at other vehicles that night as indicated in earlier reports to the police.
