Vandals wreck cars at Denny’s Recycling

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Dennis Tynan is accustomed to dealing with junk.

That doesn’t mean he wants his used cars for sale that sit on the lot of Denny’s Recycling transformed into wrecked metal.

But that’s what appears to have happened Sunday afternoon after vandals broke into his business at 1105 13th Avenue in Charles City and proceeded to take part in their own personal demolition derby.

Tynan, who has owned Denny’s Recycling for 45 years, said while he went to church on Sunday, four of his remodeled and refurbished cars were wrecked to the tune of $4,000 worth of damage.

“Bold people in this world anymore,” said Tynan.

He believes the perpetrators snuck onto his lot late Sunday morning or early afternoon, found the keys to four cars and rammed them into each other and into an iron pile on his property. Mud was splattered all over other cars in the area where the vandals used their makeshift track for what was essentially a game of bumper cars.

“The keys were hidden in the vehicles,” said Tynan.

He said the cars were sitting by his shop. Since he gets tired of losing keys and having to dig through a pile of more than 300 keys at times, he hides them in vehicles where he knows where to find them later.

“They tried other ones because there were muddy fingerprints all over two more,” said Tynan. “They either didn’t start or they couldn’t find the key.”

Tynan’s business has a fence around it with a front gate that is locked at night. He said he plans to upgrade his security measures now after the incident.

“The house is coming down and the fence is going to go across the rest of it,” said Tynan.

The Charles City Police Department has been notified of the incident. CCPD Captain Brandon Franke said there are no leads at this time, but that there would be at least criminal mischief charges filed in the case once the vandals are identified.

“We’re looking for the public’s help if they’ve heard anything or if someone talks,” said Franke. “Our investigator is working on it.”

Tynan said the cars that were damaged will likely be crushed and sold as scrap metal.

“They’re $800 cars and there’s $1,000 worth of damage in each one of them. What are you going to do?” Tynan said. “They go back into the crusher, which bottom-line, baseline, it’s not a big loss other than our time that we’d already spent on fixing them.”

The vehicles involved are a 2003 Impala, 2003 PT Cruiser, 2001 Mercury Sable wagon and a 2001 ST pickup. Tynan added that the station wagon had already been agreed to be sold for $800. One vehicle’s tire was blown, which prevented it from further damage.

“It’s a good thing that they didn’t know how to put the thing in four-wheel drive,” said Tynan.

This isn’t the first time that trespassers have entered Tynan’s property and either stolen parts or caused general mayhem. But he said he’s never had happened what transpired on Sunday.

“I come out here — a hood will be up, door will be open, a radio will be missing,” said Tynan. “I just feel personally violated every time that happens. It’s a violation of my space.”

Tynan said he knows there are people in Charles City who rely on the type of used or rebuilt cars he sells.

“A lot of people don’t have the money to go out … and buy ‘em new,” said Tynan. “Our community needs back-row stuff.”

If anyone has any information regarding the vandalism and damage done to the cars, they can contact the Charles City Police Department at 641-228-3366.