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IRVINE, Calif. () — Irvine police are asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect after more than a dozen Teslas were vandalized in separate incidents at the same plaza, including one victim who said his vehicle was spray-painted with the word “Nazi.”
According to police, surveillance video from around 10:30 p.m. last Friday shows a man inside of a parking garage near the LA Fitness gym on Michelson Drive shaking a can of spray paint, pulling his shirt over his mouth and vandalizing a Tesla. The vehicle was marked in red paint with the word “Nazi.”
“Someone had written on it in big red letters so I looked around to make sure that the person wasn’t still there and then dialed 911 to get a report filed,” one victim said.
Police said four Teslas were damaged that night, including the victim’s vehicle.
“My first thought was like hey is this directed at me personally? But quickly became apparent that that wasn’t the case so I mean that’s good, but terrible that so many people were impacted,” the victim said.
Investigators released images of the suspect in hopes that someone would recognize him. Police said a similar incident occurred less than a week later at a different parking garage in the same plaza. Again, the suspect was caught on camera.
“If you notice, this man has some features that are the same with each other and especially his shoes. It’s what makes us believe it’s possibly the same guy. And what also stuck out to us is we believe there is a tattoo, we don’t know exactly what, behind his right elbow,” Irvine Police Officer Ziggy Azarcon said.
Police said in the second incident, the suspect returned to the plaza but targeted a different parking garage and vandalized nine additional Teslas. The vehicles were again marked with the terms “Nazi” and “Fascist.”
“This is something that doesn’t happen every single day in Irvine so this is a very unique vandalism case. We would really like to get to the bottom of this and identify who this man is,” Azarcon said.
One victim said the damage prevented him from driving his vehicle for several days before he found a professional who was able to remove the paint.
“Obviously you don’t want to drive your car around with that written on it,” he said. “He did it for free because he was obviously offended by what happened and just did a really good deed.”
As the investigation continues, the victim said he hopes the suspect is found before more vehicles are targeted.
“I hope he gets the help he needs. He’s clearly very disgruntled and a confused individual so hopefully they find him and all this can stop as soon as possible,” he said.
Police said they have already received multiple tips and are urging anyone with information about the suspect to contact the Irvine Police Department. You can reach Detective Noelle at [email protected].
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