Man shoots plastic rounds at teenagers’ car after relentless doorbell ditching pranks, deputies say

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (ABC4) — A man was arrested Sunday in Eagle Mountain after allegedly standing on his porch and shooting plastic rounds toward a group of juveniles in a car across the street.

Michael Roberts, 70, is facing six third-degree felony charges of aggravated assault after allegedly shooting a “paintball like gun” toward the teenagers, according to the probable cause statement.

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Deputies from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said they spoke with six juveniles who told them they were getting into their car when a man across the street came out of the house and “began firing what they believed to be a firearm at them,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Deputies arrested Roberts and placed him into custody at gunpoint since it was “unknown the type of weapon that was used” during the incident, the affidavit states.

Roberts allegedly told authorities that, for weeks, teenagers had been doorbell-ditching him on the weekends. Roberts claimed the group across the street was entering a white vehicle “matching the same color vehicle that he had seen when he was doorbell ditched,” the affidavit states.

Roberts said he fired plastic rounds but did not aim at the juveniles. Authorities later found a small plastic ball on the scene, plastic rounds in the magazine of the gun and dents on the vehicle. The deputies did not specify what kind of gun it was.

Roberts was booked into Utah County Jail on Sunday.

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