The State - News from June 2, 1989

A mysterious vandal who slashes designer clothes in stores was back at work with a vengeance in Orange County, cutting six more suits over the Memorial Day weekend and bringing to $50,000 the damage inflicted in the last six weeks. The heightened pace of the attacks, in which men’s designer suits are the prime targets, has frustrated police, worried merchants and baffled psychiatrists, who suggest that the spree may represent anything from a prank to a protest against materialism. “We have no suspects, no (pyschological) profile, no idea,” said Mike Millington, a Costa Mesa police detective. Most of the suits are dark in color, sizes 38 to 46 and priced over $300. The damage consists of a small incision, usually about 2 inches long, at the shoulder. The pants are not touched. Police believe the slasher has been at work over two years, doing $98,000 damage at stores at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach.