Charges have been filed against two Petersburg teenagers who allegedly hit multiple deer in town with their truck last week.
The teenagers both say what happened Feb. 5 was an accident.
In court documents, they say that they were trying to scare the deer for fun, they were not trying to hit the deer.
But a video recording of the incident could paint a different story, showing the teens hitting the deer with their truck and laughing about it.
The teenager in the passenger side of the truck recorded the incident on video and posted it on the social media app, Snapchat. Both of these teens are 17 years old.
[This video could be disturbing to some viewers because of its violent nature.]The video is taken from inside the truck and shows the vehicle approaching and then hitting two deer with a third one further up the road.
It takes place in broad daylight on Wrangell Avenue in a residential neighborhood.
Alaska State Wildlife Troopers in Petersburg received the video Feb. 7 and investigated.
Troopers charged each of the teens with harassing game and one of them for reckless driving.
Misdemeanor charges of harassing game could bring a $400 fine per deer. Reckless driving also is a misdemeanor.
The troopers say according to the video, the teens drove directly at the deer and did not try to avoid them.
The District Attorney’s Office in Sitka is handling the case.
The teenagers admitted to hitting a third deer the night before.
They say the deer jumped out in front of their truck. Troopers found deer hair on the truck and a broken headlight on the driver’s side.
The third deer was on Sandy Beach Road. A dead deer was found on that road the same night by a resident.
There were no other witnesses to the actual act of the teens hitting the deer.
The teens say the deer did not die from what they saw.
They say the two deer they hit in the video ran off into a yard.
They say the third deer they hit the night before laid down in the road and then got up and walked toward the beach.
In an e-mail, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said that blood was found near the scene of the two deer that were hit but no deceased animals were found.
She said the charges reflect what troopers believe they have evidence to support.
The teens’ arraignment is scheduled at 3:15 p.m. Feb. 26 in Petersburg Superior Court.
