MOUNT CARMEL, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU-TV) — Investigators say a man under the influence of drugs rammed into vehicles repeatedly with a utility vehicle.
Police in Mount Carmel Borough are still trying to piece together the events leading up to the rampage early Sunday morning that left ten vehicles around town damaged, including two police cruisers that now must be replaced.
“One of my officers left the police department to see what was going on, and upon seeing the officer he began ramming his vehicle into the police vehicles,” says Mount Carmel Borough Police Chief, Chris Buhay.
He says that 43-year-old Mount Carmel resident Gary Updike is in the hospital and will be charged. The chief says Updike made statements to officers on scene suggesting the damage inflicted was deliberate.
“There was a recent hearing where he met one of the officers and was very disgruntled at the hearing, and he basically let all that out. He came to the police department solely to ram vehicles and create an issue,” says Chief Buhay.
Eve Lyash lives across the street from the department and says both her porch and husband’s car were significant damaged in the episode.
She says the commotion was terrifying and they couldn’t believe their eyes when they looked outside.
“We came to the window, and we saw a construction van accelerate into the police cars, then slam backwards into my husband’s car, into the police cars, four or five times.”
Lyash says it’s worse still that innocent bystanders such as herself might be stuck with a bill.
“It’s disgusting that we have to pay out of pocket for the negligence of someone else. And, today we spent at the insurance company and tomorrow we’ll spend at the insurance company as well, because tomorrow we meet with the adjuster for the claim for our house.”
