Dozens of people who drive through Harrison Township and surrounding areas are frustrated after getting flat tires, with the same shards of metal to blame.
Freeport Road is one of the areas, drivers say, they traveled through this week before ending up with a flat tire – but no one seems to know exactly where the metal came from that caused headaches for many.
“I got out of the car and thought – what is that noise?” Breanna Kovalchik told Channel 11.
It was the sound of air hissing as her tire flattened after driving on Route 28 between Tarentum and Harmar while on her way to work.
“I did make it to Highland Tire in Tarentum, but by the time I got there, it was practically flat,” she said.
Other drivers in Natrona Heights, Harrison Township, and surrounding areas also reported flat tires – and there seems to be one common cause: metal fragments, believed to be scattered along the areas of Route 28, Route 908, and Freedom Road near Walmart – according to Harrison Township police.
“I pulled one of these out of a tire, and then 10 minutes later, a lady came in with a leak, and I pulled another one out,” said Jason Brandt, a tire shop owner.
It’s been a busy 24 hours for Brandt. He told Channel 11 he’s had to repair several tires over the course of the last couple of days – pulling these same shards of metal from every single one.
Brandt says he’s been in the tire business for 11 years but has never seen anything quite like this.
“I get lots of different stuff, I mean, a variety of things in tires, but no, never the same thing one after another after another within the same day,” he said.
Harrison Township police said officers have not been able to locate exactly where the metal fragments are being picked up, but are working with PennDOT to have the state roads broomed or cleaned up.
Kovalchik and other frustrated car owners shared pictures of metal found in their tires on Facebook – and still have no idea where the material came from.
“I’m not the only one. It was well over 20 to 30 people that were saying – and it was the same shard on metal,” Kovalchik said.
Right now, police say they do not have any reason to believe the material was placed on the roads with any criminal intent.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW