Teens charged after nine cars were vandalised, one set alight at Elizabeth car yard

A car was set ablaze and eight others were vandalised at a car yard in Elizabeth overnight. Two teens were arrested.

An Adelaide car yard manager is reeling after nine cars were last night vandalised, including one being set alight, leaving an estimated damage bill of $20,000.

Rebel Ford Manager Steve Metcalf said he received a call from security at 11pm to say police were at the Elizabeth car yard, following the attack by two youths, aged 14 and 15.

“It’s disappointing to come down here at 12 o’clock at night to see this sort of mess,” Mr Metcalf said.

“It looks like they’ve gone into the yard, jumped on a few cars, broke into one vehicle and tried to set it on fire, which is the most extensively damaged car we’ve got.

Two teenagers have been charged after the vandalism spree. Photo: Russell Millard

“It’s damaged the interior extensively, I can still start it, but there are some electrical faults and I reckon it will be written off.

“It’s a Ford Territory, worth about $13,000 to $14,000.”

Among the other cars to be damaged were a Mustang, Nissan Navara ute, a commodore and a couple of Mitsubishi Triton 4WDs – about 15 per cent of the used car stock.

“I reckon that’s another $6000 of damage, but we haven’t assessed it properly yet, but they’ve obviously jumped from car to car,” he said.

“Occasionally we get some (vandalism) like a key down the site of the car or a stolen hub cap, but this is the biggest lot of damage for a long time, other than a stolen car in July.”

Mr Metcalf said a homemade bong was also found under one of the vandalised cars.

Nine cars were vandalised at a car yard in Elizabeth overnight. Photo: Russell Millard

Police arrested the two boys, from Salisbury Downs and Elizabeth North, nearby and charged them with property damage.

“I believe a member of the public actually saw the people doing this and reported it to police, followed them and then waited for police to come and arrest them,” Mr Metcalf said.

“It’s a big thank you to the member of the public who directed police to where they were.”

One of the boys was bailed to appear in court at a later date.

The other boy remains in police custody and will appear in court Monday.

“Hopefully, it might be a bit of wake up call for them,” Mr Metcalf said.