Three American teens formally charged in German highway killings

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 9 a.m.

The three sons of U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany will face trial in a German juvenile court at Darmstadt, outside Frankfurt, prosecutor Ger Neuber said. No trial date was set for the youths, who are being held in a German prison. Authorities did not release their names.

The teens, ages 14, 17 and 18, are accused of throwing large stones from a bridge onto a busy highway in Darmstadt on the night of Feb. 27. Two women were killed when stones crashed through the windshields of the cars they were driving, and four other people in passing cars were injured.

The deaths caused widespread dismay in Germany, where incidents of random youth violence are increasing but still relatively rare.

Prosecutors have accused the teens of "malice" and say they acted in full knowledge that their actions could lead to deaths. Several stones they threw narrowly missed other cars, prosecutors said.

Neuber said the teens had thrown smaller rocks at cars for some time before Feb. 27. But on that day, they hurled cobblestones and other large stones weighing up to 18 1/2 pounds from the 30-foot-high bridge.

The three took the stones from a nearby schoolyard and agreed to throw them at the cars, hiding behind a screen on the bridge so motorists couldn't see them, Neuber said.