Woman accused of causing more than $14K in damage to roof, cars from fireworks

A Doylestown woman is accused of causing $14,323 in damage to a roof and three cars of a neighboring house of a New Britain Borough property after she illegally set off fireworks on Independence Day.

A summons for Jenny Carden, 27, of the 50^th block of Oak Drive, was issued July 25 by Central Bucks Regional Police, to answer on charges of misdemeanor criminal mischief by intentionally, recklessly or by negligence using fireworks to cause damage to property and three summary offenses of use of fireworks within 150 feet of a building, per court documents.

Police said a fireworks complaint came in at 9:04 p.m. July 4, 2024 from a resident on the 70^th block of Sioux Road in New Britain Borough. A second complaint came in 20 minutes later, police said, and officers went back to the Sioux Road home.

While talking with the complainants, police witnessed a large fireworks display coming from the rear of the property on the 60^th block of Iroquois Avenue, per the complaint.

The victims in the incident told police that earlier in the day, a white male in his 50s with a goatee and mustache, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a normal build, wearing a baseball hat and glasses, came to their front door to talk about the fireworks, police said.

The man did not introduce himself, police said, and began speaking about fireworks being set off later in the evening. The victims told of their concerns for the fireworks due to numerous past complaints and damages, police said.

At the end of the conversation, the victims were under the impression, police said, that they would not be setting off fireworks.

Police walked to the rear yard of the home on the 70^th block of Sioux Road and watched the fireworks being set off on the property directly behind the complainants, on the 60^th block of Iroquois Avenue, per the affidavit.

As the fireworks were set off, police said officers could see and feel debris falling from the sky. Furthermore, police said the noise was too loud to carry on a conversation. After walking to the front of the complainants home, a small portion of what appeared to be a mortar was laying on the driveway next to a Volkswagen.

Police went to the home on Iroquois Avenue and made contact with a man and woman on the driveway, and asked who was in charge. Carden, police allege, said “I’ll be in charge.” While surveying the rear of the Iroquois Avenue property, police found two cars parked in the yard and wooden platforms with empty cases of fireworks, police allege in the affidavit.

Additionally, the two vehicles were parked in close proximity of them, and debris was covering the yard, police said.

The victim told police his roof had been replaced less than two months prior and would get an estimate for damages, per the complaint.

On July 5, the victim assessed damages to his property. Three of the victim’s vehicles were taken to an auto body repair shop for estimates for damage, police said.

The full roof cleaning was estimated at $470.

The 2010 VW GTI sustained $4,368.26 in estimated damages, per the affidavit. A 2011 VW Jetta had an estimated $2,963.72 in damages, and a 2020 Audi Q5 had an estimated $6,521.35 in damages, police said.

Carden has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Aug. 27 at 3:30 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage. There was no arraignment or bail information on the court docket.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.