Joy ride leads to thousands of dollars in property damage

An early morning joy ride inflicted thousands of dollars of damage to a local business.

Sunrise Auto Sales’ owner Susan Empey said she heard a commotion at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday and went outside to investigate.

She found an Altima had rammed through the main office’s bathroom, over a motorcycle, and into a garage door.

But she wasn’t expecting to see an additional accident caused by the drivers.

The car had rear-ended a truck carrying a four wheeler, taking off the truck’s bumper and sending the new four wheeler bouncing down the street. The car then fled the scene.

At Sunrise Auto Sales, the car had entered the parking lot at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour, sending them on a collision course with the bathroom.

” I looked over here, and there was a black Altima, and I thought “Oh great, somebody stole one of our cars and rammed it into the overhead door”.And I thought to my self “We don’t have an Altima”, and I thought “Oh dear, somebody ran their car into our shop”. And so I ran into the house and tried calling my husband” said Empey. She was in such a state of shock that she initially thought it was a bomb, and that terrorists were attacking. They haven’t had an official estimate as to how much damage was inflicted, but their own rough estimates are around 20 thousand dollars.

When the vehicle came to a stop, they fled on foot to Mountain Valley Elementary School, where Bonneville County sheriff’s deputies apprehended them.

The two 16-year-olds are being charged with joy riding, driving without a license, and fleeing the scene.