Athens Police figured it was a strange time of night for a test drive, so they charged two Athens men with seven different counts of criminal mischief and trespassing after finding them at the controls of a $100,000 land-clearing machine.

When police apprehended the suspects at 1:50 a.m. at the back of an Athens apartment construction site off West Elm Street, they were inside the cab of the Hitachi track hoe. They claimed they were there to try out the machine because they wanted to know how it operated.

Police charged Brandon Leigh Langford, 29, and James Aaron Morris, 22, both of 1711 West Elm St., Athens, with four counts each of first-degree criminal mischief, one count each of third-degree burglary, a count each of second-degree criminal mischief and a count each of second-degree criminal trespassing.

“They said they were just trying to learn how to run the equipment,” said Capt. Marty Bruce. “But we think they were out there having junk yard wars because we found where they dug some holes and crashed some of the equipment. They also damaged some of the equipment and pushed it in to some fences and trees. It resembled a demolition derby.”

Bruce said police received a call from a resident saying someone was on the equipment. He said when Sgt. Fred Millward and Officer Jimmy Flynt arrived on the scene they heard what sounded like the motor of a large piece of machinery.

They then found an opening in the fence and noticed the track hoe being driven to the back of the property. When they got to the track hoe, two people were inside the cab.

“They found where a construction trailer nearby had been broken into, and it is a possibility we will have more theft charges,” Bruce said. “We are still investigating.”

Police said a Cobra walkie-talkie was also stolen from the construction site.