Five Gwinnett County teenagers are facing felony charges after a prank goes wrong.
Gwinnett Police Cpl. Michele Pihera says the 16-year-old boys had stretched duct tape across Ronald Reagan Parkway near Webb Gin House Road in what’s known as “duct-taping”. When cars cross the sticky tape, it makes the sound similar to a flat tire.
Only this time, it was a Gwinnett County police officer who happened upon it.
“He tried to steer to avoid striking whatever it was in the roadway, and that’s when he saw another object coming flying at his vehicle,” she says.
That object, according to Pihera, was a log which damaged both the hood and one of the headlights. The officer was able to stop without wrecking the car or injuring himself.
When other officers arrived at the scene, they were able to track the footprints to the backyard of a home in the Brightwater Subdivision.
“The officers made contact with the juveniles that were there in the home, and eventually they all admitted to their involvement in the situation,” Pihera tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
All of the teens were charged with one felony count of making terroristic threats. The teen that threw the wood faces an additional felony charge of aggravated assault and interference with government property.
All were taken to the Gwinnett County Jail and fingerprinted.
Pihera says fortunately it was a police officer who happened upon the scene.
“Our officers are better equipped to handle situations like this; but had this been some other person’s car, maybe a young driver or a more mature driver, they may not have been able to react as quickly as our officer,” says she.
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