2 Peabody Teens to Face Charges for Damage at Danvers Transfer Station

Employees at the town transfer station off East Coast Road were greeted to an odd sight Thursday morning -- someone had driven one of JRM's large front-end loaders into a swampy pond behind the old dump area.

Danvers Public Works Operations Director Robert Lee told the Salem News that whoever was responsible also fired up and moved a separate excavator at the site.

Lee said that equipment was being used by a contractor to remedy a methane gas smell neighboring Peabody residents were complaining about.

Another excavator was used to pull the stuck front-end loader out of the mud and the Danvers police were called to the scene to investigate the incident.

JRM Hauling & Recycling of Peabody operates the facility now under a contract with the town.

Danvers Police Sgt. Robert Bettencourt said on Wednesday that police were able to identify the culprits as two Peabody teenagers after they returned to the scene Tuesday morning and caused more damage.

Bettencourt said the teens would be facing multiple charges, including malicious damage to property. The teens would be issued court summonses and a full incident report was not yet complete as of Wednesday night.