Millcreek man charged after serially throwing marbles at neighboring homes with slingshot

MILLCREEK — A Millcreek man is facing multiple felony charges after detectives said they connected him to a string of property damage crimes involving just him, a slingshot and a lot of marbles.

According to court documents, the Unified Police Department linked the man, Thomas Howard Stonebraker, 41, to at least six different cases where tenants in Millcreek reported damages to their homes and vehicles after finding marbles strewn through their yards.

Oddly, law enforcement recorded a string of dates in the fall of 2023 before the reports stopped. In the fall of 2024, UPD obtained a second succession of reports that ultimately led to his arrest.

2023

The earliest report recorded was on Aug. 9, 2023 at a home near 700 East and Shady Lake Drive inside a condominium complex. Just days later, on Aug. 14, 2023, a second report came from a different tenant nearby in the same complex. The complex provided an invoice to detectives, showing it paid $845.20 to fix a skylight that was damaged by a marble that day.

Two days later, another tenant reported more damage by marbles, for which the complex said it paid $1,690.40 to fix.

One last report came from the complex on Sept. 18, 2023. An amount of $1,795 was recorded by law enforcement in damages.

2024

On Aug. 16, 2024 — just over a year after the first report — Stonebraker seemed to pick up where he left off and struck the same home he had last been at. The complex said an additional $845.20 worth of damages was recorded in that unit, bringing its total to $2,639.20.

Then, Stonebraker struck again in October, but this time he moved further north up 700 East to homes directly surrounding his own, near 700 East and Lake Circle, according to UPD.

On Oct. 1, a homeowner in that area “began to find white and blue marbles around her front yard and around her backyard,” court documents said. On Oct. 8, she discovered her recreational vehicle’s window had been shattered by a marble and the paint had also been damaged. Court documents noted several other neighbors said they found marbles in their yards as well.

On Oct. 11, another homeowner in the area “heard a vehicle with a loud muffler drive in front of her residence, and she recognized the sound,” documents stated. “(She) hid behind her garbage can and took video as a male in the driver’s seat of the white SUV, (its) sole occupant, shot marbles at her Audi, damaging several windows and the body of the Audi.”

The homeowner told detectives she had been finding marbles in both her front yard and her backyard. She was therefore led to believe the man had been throwing them from another backyard nearby and driving by to throw them in her front yard as well.

The woman reported $8,611.36 in damages to the Audi, according to UPD.

On Oct. 31, a last report was recorded after a third homeowner reported damage to a parked Ford and a parked Dodge on his property, incurring $1,820.80 in damages. Detectives said the homeowner observed Stonebraker driving an Isuzu and followed him to his own neighboring home. Detectives said the description the homeowner gave of the man matched Stonebraker.

Stonebraker arrested

On Nov. 19, detectives visited Stonebraker’s home where they arrested him. When asked about the marbles, he told detectives he “found a slingshot and several marbles in his backyard. He claimed that he is under attack from several drug dealers and from the government.”

On Tuesday, Stonebraker was charged in 3rd District Court for the crimes recorded by detectives with six counts of property damage — one second-degree felony, four third-degree felonies, and one class B misdemeanor.

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This is a developing story and it may be updated.