A woke coward who ‘has a problem with Elon Musk’ has apologized after he was confronted for allegedly carving a swastika into a stranger’s Tesla.

Chadd Ritenbaugh, 55, was charged with criminal mischief and harassment as well as disorderly conduct after he was identified as the suspect who scratched an apparent swastika into a Tesla SUV parked at a Planet Fitness gym in Pennsylvania.

The alleged incident was caught on the Tesla’s camera system. The gym’s surveillance cameras then captured a man entering the building moments later wearing the same clothes. 

Ritenbaugh’s membership card was used to access the facilities.

The 55-year-old business owner was confronted about the incident, during which he initially denied leaving any damage.

‘Listen, I can wipe it off with a towel,’ Ritenbaugh tells the furious owner. ‘It’s not a key, it was a crayon.’

The man filming the confrontation repeatedly tells Ritenbaugh there is damage, describing his actions as ‘a hate crime’ and ordering he ‘write a check [to] pay for the damage.’

‘I’m sorry you’re upset,’ Ritenbaugh said. ‘It didn’t even work. Apparently it doesn’t even work.’

He repeatedly maintained he didn’t use a key on the car, despite being told the key was visible in the footage.

‘I was probably putting my keys in my pocket… It’s not a key. Have you looked at your car? Is there a key mark?’ he asks.

When told that there is a key mark, Ritenbaugh said that would be ‘impossible.’

But his tone shifts when the owner informs him the car is ‘at the police right now getting fingerprinted.’

The 55-year-old quickly changes his tune as he asks: ‘What do you mean it is being fingerprinted?’

‘Listen,’ Ritenbaugh said, putting his hand to his heart as reality sets in. ‘I said I’m sorry and I apologize. 

‘I have nothing against your car and I have nothing against you. Obviously I have something against Elon Musk but that’s not the way to show.’

Around the nation, protesters have taken their frustrations against Musk out on Tesla owners and dealerships, sparking fury from President Trump, who warned attacks on Teslas amounted to ‘domestic terrorism.’

Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have been targeted by firebombing incidents and shootings.

Prosecutors in Colorado charged a woman last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships, including Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words ‘Nazi cars’ spray-painted on a building.

And federal agents in South Carolina last week arrested a man they say set fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston.

An Oregon man faces charges after allegedly throwing several Molotov cocktails at a Tesla store in Salem, then returning another day and shooting out windows.

In Portland, more than a dozen bullets were fired at a Tesla showroom, damaging vehicles and windows, the second time in a week that the store was targeted.

Four Cybertrucks were set on fire in a Tesla lot in Seattle earlier this month. Witnesses reported a man poured gasoline on an unoccupied Tesla Model S and started a fire on a Seattle street.

In Las Vegas, several Tesla vehicles were set ablaze outside a Tesla service center where the word ‘resist’ was also painted in red across the building’s front doors. 

Authorities said at least one person threw Molotov cocktails and fired several rounds from a weapon into the vehicles.

The frustrated owner pointed out that Musk does not own the car, which was ‘bought and paid for a long time ago.

‘He owns the company,’ Ritenbaugh initially pointed out, before accepting: ‘That’s why it’s misguided and obviously I did not intend to do that.