All charges held for court for Bucks man accused of drawing swastika on Tesla
A Buckingham Township man and proprietor of a personal luxury car service accused of drawing a swastika on a Tesla outside a Doylestown Planet Fitness last year in an alleged hate crime incident had all charges moved on to Bucks County Common Pleas Court following a preliminary hearing Monday.
After being rescheduled five times since March 2025, Chadd Michael Ritenbaugh, 55, of the 3700 block of Cold Spring Creamery Road, finally had his day in district court, where misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief by damaging property and harassment were held over for county arraignment. Ritenbaugh is also charged with summary violations of harassment and disorderly conduct via obscene language, according to charging documents.
The Tesla owner confronted Ritenbaugh, recorded it and posted it on Facebook. In the video, Ritenbaugh states he used a crayon on the car and even offered to wipe it off with a towel. His face becomes one of concern when the owner tells Ritenbaugh the police are fingerprinting the car.
In that incident, Central Bucks Regional Police said Tesla dash cameras recorded Ritenbaugh crouching beside the vehicle and etching the Nazi symbol before walking into the gym. The video went viral on social media after the vehicle owner confronted Ritenbaugh in the parking lot and posted the footage to Facebook.
Ritenbaugh, who is free on $25,000 unsecured bail, was allegedly caught on the Tesla’s always-recording exterior cameras sneaking out of his silver Lexus, crouching down between his car and the white Tesla SUV, etching the Nazi symbol into the car, and then leave for the gym.
Central Bucks Regional Police allege Ritenbaugh was dressed in a gray beanie, sweatpants, a black puffer coat with a light-colored undershirt, and carrying a blue and red bag with white stripes when he vandalized the car at 9:24 a.m.
He then allegedly walked into the Planet Fitness wearing the same clothes and carrying the same bag, scans his card with the front desk staff, and proceeds into the gym, police said, which was all caught on camera.
In addition to his membership card, Ritenbaugh’s Pennsylvania driver’s license photo was used to identify him, police said.
Ritenbaugh is also facing additional charges in Solebury Township, where police allege he crashed his motorcycle while under the influence of both alcohol and MDMA on Oct. 17, 2025 in a one-vehicle crash on Mechanicsville Road.
According to an affidavit, arriving officers found Ritenbaugh lying on the shoulder beside his damaged motorcycle and detected an odor of alcohol on his breath and clothing. Due to injuries sustained in the crash, field sobriety tests could not be performed, police said.
Ritenbaugh was transported to Saint Mary Medical Center, where police read him chemical-test warnings. He agreed to a blood draw, according to the affidavit. The samples were later analyzed by NMS Labs, which reported a blood-alcohol content of 0.085 percent, along with an MDMA (ecstasy) concentration of 58 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter).
The new charges were issued via summons on Nov. 24, 2025.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
Tony Di Domizio is the managing editor of CentralBucksNow. Email him at [email protected].
