CARROLL COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — An 11-year-old boy’s bruised face and a vandalized bus are now at the center of a criminal case in Carroll County. But what happened depends entirely on who you ask.
The alleged confrontation took place at Taneytown Collision & Towing , where a battered bus now sits at the front entrance. Beneath the spray paint and shattered windows, one sign reading, “this is not kids being kids, this is poor parenting.” A message meant to frame what the business says has become an ongoing problem with juvenile vandalism.
“It’s been multiple times,” said David McFadden, an attorney representing the shop’s owner, John MacDowell, “I think they’ve had maybe like 10 vehicles towed out of here that were destroyed by various juveniles.”
MacDowell is now facing assault charges after allegedly confronting a group of children he says were vandalizing the bus in broad daylight. McFadden claims the children used a walker to force open a hatch and crack the windshield, causing an estimated $5,000 in damage.
According to the business, two boys ran away when confronted by MacDowell, while 11-year-old Isaac Vizcaino remained on the bus.
Isaac’s mother, Sara Ernest, says she immediately called 911 after seeing her son’s injuries.
“It’s enraging,” Ernest said, “He had looked like he got beat by a grown man.”
Photos shared with FOX45 show bruising around the boy’s eye, ribs and thighs. “He yanked me out and like threw me on the ground, and then started hitting me,” Isaac alleged.
“There’s no reason to hit a child, especially that many times,” Ernest added, “A simple reprimand phone call to me, even to the police, would have been better than him taking action and striking my child.”
But MacDowell tells a different story. Through his attorney, MacDowell claims the boy panicked, attempted to jump from the bus and injured himself in the process. McFadden also denied that MacDowell ever struck the child.
“No, never punch the child, touch the child in any way, shape, or form,” McFadden said.
MacDowell also claims that instead of pursuing charges against the child, he offered to have him join a Boy Scout troop he leads.
“It’s just insane that someone does the right thing, and then they’re somehow a pariah out of the whole situation,” McFadden said.
The confrontation allegedly happened at the back of the bus, outside the view of surveillance cameras on the property, making it difficult to independently verify either account.
With criminal charges now pending, it may ultimately be up to the courts to determine whether the case centers on an assault or a business owner trying to stop repeated vandalism on his property.
“I think if you dive over a bus that’s six feet in the air, which is high as a storage container, and you land on your face, you’re probably going to do a significant amount of damage,” McFadden said.
“The doctors and the pediatrician have all agreed that there’s no way those injuries were caused by a fall of any kind,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Taneytown Police Department told FOX45 there have been six founded trespassing and vandalism reports at the property since 2023. Police also said the three children involved were referred to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services on property damage allegations. Because of state privacy laws, DJS does not publicly disclose the outcomes of juvenile cases.
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