Decoy Highway Patrol car vandalized

Durham, N.C. — Someone vandalized a state Highway Patrol cruiser set out as a decoy to deter speeders along Interstate 85 in Durham overnight Friday.

Troopers placed the car along I-85 North, near Glenn School Road, Tuesday, said Patty McQuillian, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. A passing motorist called authorities at 7:19 a.m. Saturday to report that the car had been vandalized.

The vandals busted out all the car's windows with a baseball bat and slashed its seats, McQuillian said. The vandalism was so bad, it looked like the cruiser had rolled over in a wreck, she said.

A tow truck took the damaged car to the state Highway Patrol facility off Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. Agents with the City-County Bureau of Identification were examining the car for evidence.

The Highway Patrol often puts out unmanned decoy, or drone cars, during high-traffic weekends.

Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the Highway Patrol at 919-733-3861 or *HP.