Police say suspects identified in Charles City egging incidents

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Suspects have been identified in a recent rash of car eggings that have taken place in Charles City, but no charges have been filed yet, according to Police Captain Brandon Franke.

Charles City Police Chief Hugh Anderson said earlier this week that charges could soon be filed in the case.

Franke said he couldn’t release the names of the suspects, but the lead officer in the investigation is looking at more than one person.

“I just know that he had some leads from a few different sources that he was looking into. Through that he had come up with the individuals involved and went from there,” said Franke.

Franke said any charges filed would likely be simple misdemeanors.

The case has not been officially cracked, but according to social media, especially Facebook, egging incidents occurred at points all over town. One post indicated a sheriff’s squad car had been one of the cars that was egged, along with several other vehicles located near the Floyd County Courthouse.

Social media posts have mentioned that other eggings have taken place in the town of Floyd.

That has left some victims scrambling to avoid damage to the paint on their vehicles.

“If it sits, then it becomes a problem,” said Jimmy Cunnings, detail manager at Mike Molstead Motors in Charles City.

Cunnings said he has only worked on one car this week to remove the sticky substance. Coincidentally, that car belonged to a Molstead employee.

Cunnings said he has received calls for estimates on how much the process costs to clean the egg off vehicles.

“To get that off, it’s a process called clay barring. That process takes probably like 30 minutes,” said Cunnings. “It’s like an $80 hand wash.”

Cunnings said Molstead Motors also uses a surface clarifier to do work on vehicles that have lighter colors like white, silver or tan to remove the egg so it is not noticeable.

“It’s not that hard to get off,” he said. “The problem is once it sits for awhile, then it starts to get hard.”

According to online research, the reason egg residue is corrosive to paint jobs is sulfur. The egg yolk and white also contain contain amino acids which can permanently etch the paint.

“It depends on the weather — how much sun is out,” said Cunnings. “If it’s hot, then it starts cooking into the paint.”

Cunnings, who has worked at Molstead Motors for more than seven years, said the detail department at Molstead only does small paint jobs or fixes for small cracks.

“We’re not a body shop. Who knows how much a body shop is going to charge. They might have to buff through the clear coat, then reapply paint. That’s thousands of dollars, easy,” said Cunnings.

Cunnings said he understands the frustration of car owners having to deal with something that might seem trivial to someone else. He said it’s no laughing matter.

“People’s cars, that’s like their second-biggest investment after your house,” said Cunnings. “The kids don’t know that it’s a big deal for a lot of people.”

Cunnings said he was just talking to his son recently about how he would feel if his car was one of the vehicles that had egg splattered all over it.

“If one of these kids do this to my car and I find out who it is, I’m pressing charges, just because of the hassle that’s it’s going to put me through,” said Cunnings.