A Pennsylvania man is accused of scrawling a swastika into the side of a Tesla in what appears to be the latest act of far-left fury against the car brand led by Elon Musk.
The apparent act of vandalism occurred in the parking lot of the Planet Fitness in Doylestown around 9:30 a.m. on March 24, according to police.
‘Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk.’
The Doylestown Republican Committee shared video of a man vandalizing the Tesla vehicle on Facebook.
The suspect is seen in the video getting out of his Lexus, which is parked next to the Tesla, and looking all around before crouching down. However, the Tesla’s surveillance system caught the man marking a swastika into the side of the vehicle while he was ducking down to avoid being spotted.
Tesla vehicles have a “sentry mode,” a security feature that utilizes the car’s cameras and sensors to record activity around the vehicle when parked. In recent weeks, many Tesla vandals have been caught red-handed defacing electric vehicles by way of the sentry mode surveillance system.
Police said the suspect put “scratches into the side of the Tesla using an unknown object.”
The Tesla owner allegedly didn’t realize that his car had been defaced until he arrived at home. The alleged victim reviewed the sentry mode footage and saw what had happened in the Planet Fitness parking lot.
The Tesla owner notified the police.
A video allegedly shows the Tesla owner confronting the suspect, who is accused of carving a swastika into the car.
The suspect in the video, which was livestreamed to Facebook, said, “I can wipe it off with a towel — it’s not a key, it’s a crayon.”
“It didn’t even work,” the man told the owner.
The alleged suspect sings a different tune and gets very concerned when the Tesla owner explains that his car is being fingerprinted by the police “right now.”
The suspect urgently asks, “What do you mean it’s being fingerprinted?”
The Tesla owner said the police were trying to “track” down the suspect, but added that users on Facebook were able to track him down.
The Tesla owner insisted that the alleged suspect apologize for writing a swastika on his car.
“I’m sorry. I have nothing against your car, and I have nothing against you,” the suspect is heard saying on video, according to the New York Post.
The Tesla owner pressed the alleged suspect on why he would scratch a swastika in his car.
“Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk,” the alleged suspect says.
The Tesla owner fired back: “Does Elon Musk own that car?”
The alleged suspect confessed that his actions were “misguided.”
Police noted that the suspect — 55-year-old Chadd Ritenbaugh — was identified by his gym membership identification card and his Pennsylvania driver’s license.
The Central Bucks Regional Police Department said in a statement, “Planet Fitness staff was able to identify the suspect by his membership. The video camera at 09:24 hours on March 24, 2025, shows the suspect walking into Planet Fitness wearing the same clothes and carrying the same bag from the Tesla video camera footage. He scans his membership card with the front desk staff and proceeds into the gym.”
A criminal complaint was filed, and the Central Bucks Regional Police Department issued an arrest warrant for Ritenbaugh on Thursday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ritenbaugh was hit with charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and two counts of harassment.
The Doylestown Republican Committee claimed that Democrats in the area have “embraced the left’s recent tactics of using intimidation, violence, and destruction.”
“Condemning political violence, intimidation, violence, destruction, and swastikas should be a no brainer. The silence of elected Democrats in the borough and township over this act speaks volumes,” Doylestown Republican Committee Communications Chair Ed Sheppard said. “It should worry every resident of Doylestown that the Doylestown Democrats have become so extreme that this kind of behavior & mentality now has a home here.”
The Bucks County Democratic Committee organized a protest against Elon Musk at the county’s only Tesla dealership on March 22.
Liberals are furious because Musk wants to slash wasteful and fraudulent spending by the federal bureaucracy by way of the Department of Government Efficiency.
There have been several acts of vandalism against Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations by left-leaning dissidents in recent weeks.
As Blaze News reported on Monday, a 61-year-old Tesla driver said this week that she was terrorized by a motorist while driving in Arizona.
A 70-year-old man at a Tesla protest has been accused of ramming a car into a counterprotester in Idaho.
A California man was allegedly caught keying a Tesla last month.
The FBI has responded to the terrorist threats against Tesla by launching a task force.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Tesla, Elon musk, Tesla attack, Tesla attacks, Tesla news, Tesla video, Swastika, News, Crime
