90 Tires Slashed Within 6-Block Area of Newhall

The northern sector of Los Angeles County may have been spared the random shattering of windshields plaguing drivers on Los Angeles-area freeways, but it has fallen victim to another kind of car vandalism.

More than 90 tires were slashed in east Newhall early Sunday morning, authorities said. So far, there are no suspects, motives or witnesses.

“We have a whodunit right now,” said Deputy Tom Gibson of the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station.

Deputies got a call at about 8:30 a.m. from a resident reporting several cars with flat tires. When the officers arrived and toured the area, Gibson said, they discovered slashed tires on 31 cars and one child’s bicycle in a six-block region.

“They were punctured on the sidewall with something like an ice pick or some sort of sharp object,” Gibson said. “There was no other damage to the vehicles, none whatsoever.”

The tires were probably punctured between midnight and 4 a.m., he said.

A similar incident occurred a couple of weeks ago in the Santa Clarita area. But Gibson said he is uncertain whether the two events are connected, even though a sharp instrument was used to puncture tires in both cases. In the first incident, about 18 tires were punctured on a dozen cars parked at a local hospital.

“Someone maybe got angry at one of the doctors or staff,” he said. No arrests have been made. “Whether it’s the same tool or the same person, we don’t know at this point.”

Station detectives will continue to investigate both incidents, Gibson said.

Sunday morning’s incident affected a residential neighborhood of mostly single-family homes and some apartment buildings. It’s bounded by Market Street to the north, 3rd Street to the south, Race Street to the east and Pine Street to the west.

“There’s some very upset people over there,” Gibson said. “It’s an area of predominately low-income families and they don’t have the finances to replace the tires.”

Area residents, he said, are blaming local gang members.

Gibson said he expects witnesses to come forward once the scope of the damage is known. In the meantime, he said the department will increase its presence in the area.