Diana McCoy’s great-niece and great-nephew were covered with shards of glass when the driver’s side window of her Monte Carlo was shattered by a rock Friday morning.
Authorities later tracked down a 12-year-old boy who, they say, admitted firing rocks at passing vehicles with a slingshot.
He and his 12-year-old friend were allowed to go home, but not until their parents were told what had occurred and arrangements were made to pay for the damage.
"Pretty much the punishment that was going to be dealt by the parents would be far worse than that of the juvenile court system," LaPorte County Sheriff's Deputy Neal Lachmund said.
Officers responded Friday to the 1700 block of East County Road 500 South near Mill Creek on a report of shots fired.
McCoy of Mill Creek told investigators the driver's side window of her Chevrolet Monte Carlo was shattered -- peppering the children ages 7 and 8 with shards of glass she had to pick out of their skin.
“There was just glass everywhere,” said McCoy, who said there was a hole about the size of a half dollar in the spider webbed window.
Joseph Marks, also of Mill Creek, came along a few seconds later and reported the rear quarter panel of his vehicle was hit by an unknown object.
Kingsford Heights Town Marshal Chris Fine was first to respond because he was the closest officer to the scene.
"It looked exactly like a bullet hole," said Fine, who located the boys at a nearby residence.
One of the boys told authorities he and his friend were shooting a slingshot when he decided to try and shoot a rock across the street.
The boy said he fired the slingshot while hiding behind some pine trees.
Lachmund said the boys were found with help from witnesses who reported seeing them run toward some nearby houses.
The father of the boy who fired the slingshot made his son tell officers the truth and worked things out with the victims to pay for their damages.
Lachmund said nobody being hurt and the boys having no prior dealings with the police influenced the decision not to file charges.
"They just kind of acknowledged it was a really stupid thing to do," Lachmund said.
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