Thousands of dollars of damage and a slew of angry and frustrated residents in Buena Vista. More than 50 of them woke up Wednesday morning to find the tires on their cars had been slashed. In some cases people had as many as two, three and four tires ruined on the same vehicle.
Police believe the vandalism started at the corner of 18th and Walnut and ended about six blocks away on 24th Street.
"I've been fairly busy with all these flats," says Dennis Taylor of Taylor's Tow. A tow truck company in Buena Vista. Taylor first got a call about the flat tires before sunrise.
"I came out here the first time and everywhere I looked was flats. People was running out of their houses trying to figure out what's going on," says Taylor.
"I'm sure there's a lot of people that are very upset," says Jacob Roberts, a Buena Vista resident.
Between 1 and 4 a.m. police say at least 53 cars were vandalized. The tires in most cases were sliced beyond repair. A patrol unit with the department began noticing the damage even before the calls started coming into the 9-1-1 dispatch center Wednesday morning.
"It is a mean vicious thing to do," says Katherine Radford.
She and William Radford were actually one of very few spared on their block.
"We just bought four new tires too," says William Radford.
Their neighbor wasn't so lucky.
Kimberly Hand and her husband first got wind of what was going on as he tried to leave for work around 6 a.m. As she points out, this act of cruelty couldn't have happened at a worse time for everyone.
"Especially in this community. We've had many industries to close and many of the families that have been victimized today they're either without jobs or kids in college," says Hand.
Bill Spence had eight of his tires slashed on two of his vehicles.
"I'll tell you what I think, somebody needs help. They're screaming out for it," says Spence.
An adult daycare facility next door also saw damage to it's oversized bus. Workers inside tell News7 that residents were supposed to go on a field trip Wednesday. It had to be cancelled.
Police were out assessing the damage for much of the day and trying to get in touch with residents. While there have been incidents like this before, never has it been so widespread and involved so many vehicles.
"We'll definitely step up our patrols in the residential areas and throughout the city and try to keep this from happening again is what we'll do," says Corporal J.W. Miller with the Buena Vista Police Department.
Late Wednesday police arrested 19-year-old Joel Burke, who's from Buena Vista. Authorities say he handed them a written confession. Burke has been charged with multiple felony offenses, with numerous felony/misdemeanor offenses pending.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a specific area in the small town of Buena Vista has seen its share of tire slashings. Last March someone slashed the tires on seven of 12 school buses leaving more than 800 kids stranded before school. Police in no way believe last year's case is connected to what happened Wednesday. Investigators still however have not found who was behind the ruckus in the bus barn. That case remains very much under investigation.
