Suspect

faces

charges

in Morgan

vandalism

Damage to

vehicles may

reach $150,000

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

MORGAN -- Police are saying the juvenile suspect in Sunday's vandalism spree in Morgan confessed during an interview later that evening.

Police also say they expect criminal charges to come against the unidentified 16-year old male soon.

The rural Brown County teenager is currently the chief suspect in a Morgan vandalism spree that damaged an estimated total of $150,000 to at least 25 cars and a few buildings early Sunday.

A 911 call came in at 3:45 a.m. reporting a pickup truck that was ramming other cars in front of a house.

"This was a very angry young man, who, for no particular reason, decided to take out his frustration with the world in the streets of our city simply because it was there," said Morgan Police Chief Bob Fischer in a Monday press release. "He harbors no grudge against Morgan or its people at all."

Police later chased the truck out of town and into western Brown County, where they followed the suspect along County Road 30 towards the river bottom and through some ATV trails at speeds as high as 100 miles per hour. The pickup eventually ran out of gas in a field near County Road 10. Police said the suspect disappeared on foot.

Morgan police estimate $150,000 in damage was done Sunday night, but said that figure is preliminary because the case is still under investigation.

Morgan police said the damages come after a supposedly similar incident happened in Sleepy Eye on New Year's Eve. Sleepy Eye police could not be reached for comment.

Morgan police narrowed their search for suspects to the juvenile whose parents owned the pickup. They reported him as missing earlier that evening and later made arrangements with police to bring their son to New Ulm, where he was interviewed by law enforcement officials.

The suspect was released to the custody of his parents.

Investigators from other area law enforcement agencies are trying to determine whether other incidents of random damage to cars, street signs and mailboxes are linked to the juvenile, the press release states.