By JOHN M. HOOBER III, Staff
A group of teenagers did some unappreciated artwork at public rest rooms along the Route 30 East tourist strip on Wednesday evening.
Starting at about 6, the group scribbled obscenities inside men's and women's rest rooms at three restaurants and two shopping centers, East Lampeter Township police said.
The vandals used black and sometimes red markers. Their slogans were found on interior walls and mirrors in the rest rooms. The cleanup cost at each location was about $500, East Lampeter Township police Lt. James Ely said.
"We have leads as to whom they were," Ely reported today. "We think they were four local teenagers, both male and female."
The vandalism spree occurred over a period of about one hour, Ely said. The group entered rest rooms at McDonald's restaurant, 2091 Lincoln Highway East; Dunkin Donuts, 2120 Lincoln Highway East; Burger King restaurant, 2464 Lincoln Highway East; at Tanger Outlets shopping center and at Rockvale Square shopping center, police asid.
At Tanger Outlets the vandals also defaced advertisements in the hallway outside the rest rooms, police said.
In a separate investigation, Lancaster state police said they have a description of the man who stole money from a produce stand in Little Britain Township on Wednesday morning.
The suspect, a young white male, pulled up to Emma Z. Beiler's stand at 274 S. Little Britain Road, Nottingham, shortly before 9, Trooper Dustin C. Shireman said.
The man reached into the stand and grabbed a white plastic container that held about $300 in cash. He wore a light-colored T-shirt and long pants. Initial reports were that he fled in a black car that was missing a back door.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Lancaster state police at 299-7650 or Lancaster City/County CrimeStoppers at 1-800-322-1913.
In other police incidents:
• A man walked outside his home at Ashlea Gardens in New Holland at 12:15 a.m. today to smoke a cigarette and saw two males running from his vehicle.
The pair apparently had tried to remove a radio from the vehicle, New Holland police said. They were last seen running on West Conestoga Street.
• A 13-year-old Lititz-area boy was assaulted as he rode a bicycle on Route 501 in northern Lancasster County at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, Ephrata state police said.
The boy was riding north in Elizabeth Township. Just north of the Pennsylania Turnpike, a passenger in a pickup truck struck him on the back of the head with an open hand, Trooper Joseph Hartranft said.
The blow caused the boy to fall off his bicycle and tumble over a railing, but he was not hurt, police said.
The assailant was in a blue or gray Chevrolet S-10 or Ford F-150 truck that had a camouflage rear window. The vehicle had a Pennsylvania license plate and was last seen heading north on Route 501.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Ephrata state policee at 721-7667 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-322-1913.
Staff writer John M. Hoober III can be reached at jhoober@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.
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