Alleged Tesla Vandal Regrets Everything When Confronted by Owner
“I said I’m sorry. … I have nothing against your car, and I have nothing against you. … Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk.”
Musk Derangement Syndrome has just turned life upside down for a 55-year-old father and business owner in Buckingham, Pennsylvania.
Chadd Ritenbaugh was allegedly caught on a Tesla’s surveillance camera carving a swastika into the vehicle’s side while it was parked outside a Planet Fitness in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, shortly before 9:30 a.m. on March 24.
Local media outlet Phillyburbs.com reported:
Police followed up with the gym, which was able to identify the suspect, who is also seen on video entering the business wearing the same clothing as the suspect in the Tesla video, the affidavit said.
Authorities identified Ritenbaugh through his membership ID and his driver’s license photo, according to the affidavit.
Ritenbaugh is charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and harassment, and two counts of summary harassment and disorderly conduct.
Prior to his arrest, however, Ritenbaugh was confronted outside his home by the Tesla’s owner. And in that moment, he seemed to realize that his far-left ideology and disdain for Elon Musk didn’t entitle him to vandalize someone else’s property.
Surveillance footage shows a man, believed to be Ritenbaugh, exiting his vehicle and crouching between the two cars. He appears to carve something into the side of the Tesla before standing up and walking around to the other side of his own vehicle.
According to the video below, Planet Fitness employees identified the man as Ritenbaugh.
JUST IN: 55-year-old Chadd Ritenbaugh busted for allegedly carving a swastika on a Tesla outside of Planet Fitness in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
The anti-Semite was seen sneaking around the car, not realizing it was recording him the whole time.
According to what appears to be… pic.twitter.com/kbcXR8FhVY
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 28, 2025
The Tesla owner later tracked down Ritenbaugh outside of his home. Ritenbaugh, who reportedly owns a car service, offered to repair the damage at his company’s shop, which he referred to as a “free service.”
He then claimed he had used a crayon to mark the Tesla and said, “I can wipe it off with a towel.”
When pressed by the owner for some answers, Ritenbaugh denied using a key, saying, “I’m sorry you’re upset. It didn’t even work.”
“It’s at the police right now. It’s being fingerprinted,” the owner responded.
Ritenbaugh appeared shaken by the fact that the police were now involved and asked, “What do you mean it’s being fingerprinted?”
“They’re trying to track you down,” the owner informed him. “Thankfully, Facebook tracked you down. So your business, your freakin livelihood, everything now, because you chose to write a — Tell Facebook you’re sorry for writing a swastika on a Tesla.”
“I said I’m sorry. And I apologized,” Ritenbaugh replied. “I have nothing against your car, and I have nothing against you.”
“For what,” the owner demanded to know.
“Obviously, I have something against Elon Musk,” Ritenbaugh admitted. “But that’s not the way to show my — ”
The owner cut him off, “So Elon Musk owns that car? It was bought and paid for a long time ago.”
“No, he owns the company,” Ritenbaugh replied, as if that justified his actions. “That’s why it’s misguided and obviously I did not intend to do this.”
“Alright, we’re going to wait for the police,” the owner said.
NEW: Man confronted after drawing a swastika on a Tesla, tries offering the man “free service” through his car service company.
How kind of him!
The man appears to be 55-year-old Chadd Ritenbaugh who was busted last week for allegedly carving a swastika on a Tesla in Bucks… pic.twitter.com/38kPcMAslB
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 31, 2025
The Philadelphia Inquirer reached out to Ritenbaugh’s attorney, Paul Lang, who responded via text message: “My client is a proud father, longtime resident, and is currently undergoing cancer treatment. We will reserve further comment pending the outcome of the case.”
Interestingly, the sub-headline of the story in the Inquirer read: “In what’s become a feature of the polarized political climate, the online outrage cycle ended with social media vigilantes identifying the suspect before police even filed charges.”
The left-leaning newspaper appears more concerned with the Tesla owner’s behavior than Ritenbaugh’s alleged vandalism.
While it’s unlikely that Ritenbaugh is connected to the larger wave of vandalism and violence currently targeting Tesla dealerships across the U.S. and Europe, every individual who believes it’s acceptable to damage someone else’s property over their political beliefs should be publicly exposed—until this behavior stops.
And poor old Mr. Ritenbaugh has just become the poster child for this effort.
What began as protests against Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse inside the federal government has, in recent weeks, spiraled out of control.
The FBI recently launched a task force to identify the groups—and especially the individuals bankrolling these groups—behind these attacks. Those responsible will face domestic terrorism charges, as they very well should.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Hopefully he will be regretting his actions while sitting in a prison cell.
I would prefer he die a long and painful death from his cancer, before he spends an eternity in Hades. Most deserving.
But if there is no Gd and there is no hell in their minds, the painful death and the misery to him and his family is very fitting. I hope his medical care bankrupts him and his family is destitute.
Sorry, I have no use for that jerk, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I wouldn’t even wish chemo side effects on him.
You have a kinder soul than I.
I am vindictive, have no love or compassion for people who believe they can do vicious and hateful things as they wish unless caught, and then they cry “my rights” after they have willfully done damage and injury.
They are criminals not worthy of compassion.
Strike One – He is an ugly little “ginger” of a man and should never have been allowed to procreate…lol
Strike Two – He is a lying spineless little liberal weasel that is deranged about Elon and his connection to Tesla. Elon only owns 25% and owns 0% of DOGE btw….so very misplaced anger & domestic terrorism.
Strike Three – If the roles and political parties were reversed in this situation where this weak ginger little girl of a man would have been a Republican (actually we don’t have wimpy ginger girl-men…haha) then the media and public would be uncontrollably outraged and definitely labeling this as a “Hate Crime” which carries much heavier consequences.
Strink Four – He is an admitted democrap.
Strike Five – He used his cancer as a plea for leniency to try to get out of his Hate Crime.
⁴
Strike Six – This guy allows himself willingly to be the poster-rat to double standards and duplicity regarding covering up his misdeeds by turning the spotlight on the victim instead…
6 strikes?!?! You are out of here twice as heavy, twice as deep, A$$-Clown.
Democrats must keep the blinders on their Useful Idiots pretty tight if they/thems haven’t learned by now that Teslas have a hojillion cameras plus Sentry-Ruin-Your-Sorry-Ass-Day-Mode.
Gonna take some very long prison sentences and/or several good old fashioned curb stomping to end this political violence. No whining, no sob stories only max sentences.
In Ritenbaugh’s case, as both a father and a local business owner, the combination of public humiliation and the significant legal bills he now faces will go a long way toward deterring others who think it’s okay to vandalize Teslas.
As for the more organized groups, identifying and prosecuting those who are funding the vandalism and violence under domestic terrorism statutes would send a powerful message. Although we don’t who’s behind it at the moment, imagine a high-profile activist, like a Reid Hoffman or a George Soros, being held accountable. Let’s hope we find out who’s responsible. And soon.
Respectfully, that’s not enough. Swift and certain punishment is the only effective counter to bullying. Make no mistake that’s really what this is. At root bullies and terrorists operate with same tactics; they use violence and threat of violence to intimidate others into compliance with their wishes.
I suspect these sorts doing this independently are largely the same wussy Karens demanding masks in Covid and a swift well deserved, painful ass kicking would act to deter them. As would swift arrest, trial and max punishment. The organized terrorist actions will require DoJ efforts and probably RICO. If they can make the case then I suspect many of these cowards.will roll over and name names exposing the organizers and financiers to serious prison time.
I doubt very much that his humiliation and legal bills will deter anyone. The ones doing this are not stable people. They’re utterly wrapped up in their obsessive hatred.
He should have to buy the guy’s Tesla and purchase him an upscale Tesla to boot.
“He then claimed he had used a crayon to mark the Tesla and said, “I can wipe it off with a towel.”
Asked to spell Crayola, he responded, “C-O-R-O-L-L-A…”
He’s a dad. Okay, so what?
He’s a long time resident. Okay, so what?
He’s in treatment for cancer. Unfortunate but so what?
He’s a vandal who may spend time in jail for damaging someone’s property and, oh yes, who might see his business negatively affected. This will be quite a story for the grandkids some day.
.
A story about how grandpa squandered their inheritances.
Exactly! Jeez, I’m a dad, was a long time Bucks County resident, and there’s a good chance I got my stage 4 lung cancer from radon there. But none of that is relevant or, along with 25¢, will buy me a cup of coffee.
The guy is not in control of his emotions and needs to answer for what he’s done. At least he owned up to what he did, in a weaselly sort of way. Now he needs to face all of the consequences. And get some therapy. Then and only then should he work on the story to tell his grandkids.
Too bad you didn’t decide to take a shot at candidate Trump.
Look at all the great Democrat excuses you squandered!
I just went through cancer treatment. I didn’t hurt a soul or damage their property. The thoughts never even crossed my mind. Instead, I reflected on how precious family and friends are to support you during this time. It sounds like this guy needs to appreciate his family more and be violent less.
Wishing you a speedy & complete recovery. My thoughts about cancer treatment (still ongoing) are very similar. I don’t see how treatment should cut me any slack in deliberately damaging someone else’s property.
Actually, that guy’s lucky that the guy whose car he damaged is not very vengeful. If someone did that to my property I wouldn’t have a camera on them when I confronted them about it
A canera? I would,. A Bell & Howell H-16.
Ask any surviving Watts rioter what it felt like when they tried attacking a newsreel cinematographer.
“That’s why it’s misguided and obviously I did not intend to do this.”
“I’m just an irrational sheeple, easily led into criminal acts by appeals to my endocrine system. Would you happen to have a spare AR-15 and a ticket to a Trump rally?”
Pretty sure he didn’t trip and use a vertical followed by a horizontal zig zag motion to break his fall.
A fifty-five year-old man, acting like a spiteful and vindictive teenager.
This is what leftism/Dhimmi-crat ideology does to people, folks. An ideology of hate, intolerance and totalitarianism.
Emotional infantalism. He’s a 4yr old in a 55yr old body.
It’s like a religion.
Do you think this ahole would be okay with someone firebombing his house and business because they disagreed with his deranged options. I’m not suggesting anyone do this because it would be wrong not to mention illegal, but considering that he has no problem damaging property of someone else because of their political views do you think he would be accepting of something similar done to his property because of his views?
any wonder how Hitler got the jews on trains?
Nope. He used brown shirt criminals with names like Rittenbaugh.
Sorry, Chadd. There is going to be a criminal prosecution against you, and then a civil action against you. Ya need to lawyer up, dude. It’ll be fun, but not for you, that much.
JR aspires to be as masculine Ritenbaugh.
Shouldn’t this thug be charged with terrorism? Using violence to achieve political goals seems like terrorism to me.
I don;’t think keying a car is violence yet, Unless it’s really silent.
Haven’t you heard that speech is violence
If speech is violence, and silence is violence, what is not violence?
Answer: Hitting people and destroying property, when these are done in the right cause.
Inflicting harm on others or their property is violence. Doing it to coerce them or others who observe into compliance with particular policies is terrorism. I would submit that physical actions inflicted upon another, another’s family or property that may reasonably be expected to provoke that individual to commit violence is itself violence. IOW if average man on the street opinion is ‘that MFer deserved the ass kicking they just got’ then the action that person took to motivate someone to deliver an ass kicking qualifies.
The late Chief Rabbi Lord Jno Sacks zt’l observed that violence is the attempt to impose one’s opinion on someone else by force.
Go after the brain washers.
Make him famous which has happened, charge him which has happened and make him pay for the damage which is going to happen plus a fine for his behavior. Sorry about the other stuff the lawyer texted but it’s as irrelevant as his wearing a down jacket when he did it.
The thing that this fool/tool is sorry for is getting caught.
I’m sure you’ve all noticed how the left moves as one like they’re a hive mind. Suddenly they decide that Musk is a villain, and rather than just protest him like rational people thousands of leftists suddenly start keying cars and even firebombing chargers and dealerships.
I’m still trying to figure this out. I personally believe that there is a deliberate effort on the part of the globalists like Soros to strike at Musk because they’ve decided that he’s the one who is truly dangerous. They think Trump by himself can be isolated and blocked (like he was in his 1st term), but with Musk digging out their corruption and helping Trump strike at their funding there’s real danger. The corruption well is running dry, and while they can afford to fund opposition for a while they can’t do it forever. Compared to Musk George Soros is a pauper. Just my theory on what’s going on behind the scenes.
But that doesn’t explain these fruitcakes. I don’t think this “proud father, longtime resident, who is currently undergoing cancer treatment” is getting a check from Soros. Nor are the other nutjobs. Are leftists really this easily worked up into a frenzy by their social media? All signs point to yes. Ultimately these are dangerous people, because they’ll keep escalating. Just wait until they have a martyr, some purple-haired car-keying leftist dipshit who gets wasted by a Tesla owner.
I figured the same thing out when the “Trump smells bad” headline hit. Suddenly all the leftists were calling him stinky and complaining about how bad he allegedly smelled even though I doubt any of them had been within five miles of him. Trump has been a public figure for decades and has met millions of people, yet no one ever said he smelled until one day when everyone said it. That’s when I realized there was some disinformation network disseminating talking points. It also showed that they had nothing of substance and had to resort to kindergarten insults. Musk is the latest target because he’s successful and doing necessary work.
“Prior to his arrest, however, Ritenbaugh was confronted outside his home by the Tesla’s owner…”
And therein lies the problem. Why did Ritenbaugh feel free to engage in an act of domestic terrorism in the first place? Because he knows that if he’s caught and arrested that the risk/benefit equation is greatly in his favor because we as a society have delegated dealing with aberrant behavior to the cops and the courts who are far more interested in protecting their customer – the criminal – than they are in justice. If it entered Mr. Ritenbaugh’s mind that taking his key to someone’s property would result in the need for immediate medical attention and extensive reconstructive surgery he’d think twice. This is the same kind of behavior we witnessed with our loudmouth former president when he’d go off on someone who challenged him on the campaign trail. Neither he or this key jockey ever got their butts kicked for their behavior when they were younger.
like a six year old, he is only sorry that he got caught
Yes, you did intend to do this. You saw this kind of vandalism being done in the news, you saw the vandalism being done on social media. You saw the vandalism being done to Tesla vehicles. And you intended to do it when you had the opportunity. FAFO, buddy, Now man up, and face the consequences of your actions.
So why not virtue signal against musk some other way on your FB page? Or buy EV from different maker?
Because those actions are not part of the Terrorism for Dummies guidebook.
Is the skell’s lawyer suggesting that his client shouldn’t be prosecuted because he is a being treated for cancer? Did the chemo make him do it?
The guy deserves to be a poster child for the malignancy known as TDS; his mug shot will make a handsome poster.