Three men from Mercer County are suspected of throwing water bottles at several vehicles on the I-79 overpass in Lawrence County.

According to the criminal complaint, Ryan Long of Grove City, Noah Krofcheck of Mercer and Dylan Root of Sharon, all 20 years old, are charged with criminal damage to property and firing missiles into roadways.

According to police, the incident occurred shortly before 5:00 a.m. in September 2023. Police received reports that someone was throwing objects from the Brent Road overpass on I-79 in Plain Grove Township, hitting vehicles driving underneath on I-80.

Police spoke to three victims, all of whom reported damage to windshields and front ends. Some vehicles had Aquafina water bottle labels stuck to them.

The criminal complaint states that the total damage to the vehicles was $3,485.30.

None of the victims could identify any of the suspects and could only tell police that the items were thrown from an unknown pickup truck.

According to the complaint, the investigation revealed that the pickup truck in question was stolen and the police were able to identify the three 20-year-olds as suspects.

Police initially spoke with Long about the incident. Long reportedly told police he knew about the incident but was not present at the time. However, police say Long dodged questions and was caught lying on multiple occasions.

Eventually, Long told police that Root was the one who threw the bottles.

Police later spoke with Root, who told police the three stopped at a convenience store and bought a case of bottled water. Root said Long and Krofcheck told him to stop at the overpass.

Root further told police that the two began throwing water bottles and told him to join them or they would “tell people things about him.” According to police, Root admitted to joining them.

All three suspects must appear in court on September 10.