Mysterious metal pieces puncture dozens of tires on Route 28 near Tarentum

Dozens of drivers have found themselves dealing with flat tires after driving on a stretch of Route 28 near Tarentum. 

A lot of tire shops are dealing with customers, and they're pulling out metal shards that were picked up while driving on Route 28 North. But no one is really sure what they are or where they're coming from. 

"I've been doing this all my life," said Harry Hoffman of Highland Tire in Tarentum. "I've seen a lot of crazy things, but this is a lot for one single day."

He said he's seen probably 30 different vehicles with tires that had shards in them. The small bits of steel have disabled cars.

"They're very sharp, no doubt," Hoffman said. 

Route 908 and Freeport Road near the Walmart are a few of the places drivers have run over these things, but Route 28 North in that area is the place where most of the flats are occurring.

"I got a flat tire indicator on my car," said driver Darius Eicher, whose car is in the shop because of a suspected shard. "I have no idea where it came from, no idea how any of it happened."

Eicher says he feels lucky he didn't wreck his car. 

Hoffman says it's hard to tell whether the pieces were thrown on purpose.

"I don't think it was malice," Hoffman said. "It looks like maybe out of a machine shop or so, it may have been just scrap on a truck." 

Harrison Township police posted on their social media saying they're working with PennDOT to see if it can perhaps send broom trucks along the highway to at least push the items to the side. 

Hoffman says until something like that happens, he suspects he'll see a lot more customers coming with flat tires and these things stuck in them

"Nobody could have avoided this," he said.