Two Salina teens were arrested and more may face charges after Saline County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a water balloon fight early Friday morning  in a field north of Salina.

Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said deputies responded around 1 a.m. Friday to the area near Granville and Hanna Roads, just east of Old Highway 81. When they arrived, an estimated 100-150 teens were found in a secluded field, apparently getting ready to have a water balloon fight. Deputies found numerous empty alcohol containers and other trash on the ground, along with about a dozen plastic totes filled with water balloons.

Kochanowski said officers encountered 17-year-old Ashley Elizabeth Strait, 914 Millwood, in the back seat of a car with a vodka bottle. She was taken to the Saline County Juvenile Detention Center and charged with criminal damage to property, criminal trespassing and minor in possession of alcohol. Also taken to the juvenile detention center was 17-year-old Michael Conrad Shirk, 422 Tulane Ave. Kochanowski said when a deputy approached the pickup he was in, the deputy smelled marijuana. Shirk was charged with possession of depressants, possession of drug paraphernalia, minor in possession of alcohol, criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing.

To reach the area, teens drove across a corn field that had just begun growing, Kochanowski said. The field is owned by Doug Hill, 1818 Hillcrest, and leased to an area farmer. Kochanowski said cleanup and damage costs are estimated at $6,000.

The sheriff’s office is continuing its investigation and in the process of trying to identify more teens who were at the scene. Kochanowski said the case will then be presented to the county attorney.

“I don’t think anyone objects to the idea of kids wanting to get together to have a water balloon fight…but be responsible. You don’t need beer. You don’t need drugs,” Kochanowski said. “This just ruins it for anyone else who might want to do something like this in the future.”