Police arrest 2 men in drive-by rock-throwing spree

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Two men who investigators say can be linked to more than a dozen incidents of rocks or bricks being thrown at parked cars were arrested early Saturday.

Cottonwood Heights police said they could link the duo to at least 19 drive-by rock throwings overnight in their city alone, said detective Beau Babka.

Investigators say the two started around 2 a.m. About 3:30 a.m., the men came upon a truck and threw either a brick or a rock into it, Babka said. But the truck owner was still inside his vehicle waiting for a friend.

The truck owner gave chase long enough to get a description of the men's vehicle and called police, Babka said. As the two men tried to get away, they hit two other parked cars.

A short time later, a Draper police officer pulled over the car for a minor traffic violation. While the officer was attending to the car, an attempt-to-locate message was broadcasted by dispatchers to all officers. Noticing the damage from hitting the two parked cars, the officer realized he had the vehicle, detained the occupants until Cottonwood Heights police arrived and arrested the men.

Colby Straub and Joseph Mallory, both 23, were arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of a couple of counts each of criminal mischief, said Babka, who noted the number of charges could go up.

As of Saturday morning, the total damage estimate from the vandalism spree was in the tens of thousands of dollars, Babka said. The number of broken windows could rise once investigators talk to surrounding agencies.

Last weekend, 15 windows on Salt Lake County's east side were shattered by someone throwing rocks at vehicles, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak.

As of Saturday, deputies had not positively linked the county's crime spree and the Cottonwood Heights incident. But based on the proximity of the two events and the fact they happened about the same time of the week, Jaroscak said sheriff's investigators would look at any information Cottonwood Heights detectives have.

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