Complex tire-slash scene nets 98 flats

Deepa Bharath

In a large-scale act of vandalism, one of the biggest in the city’s

history, miscreants on Sunday night reportedly slashed nearly 100

vehicle tires in an apartment complex, causing about $14,700 in

damages, officials said.

The tire-slashing occurred sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. at the

Lakes apartment complex in the 3400 block of Avenue of the Arts,

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Ciszek said.

“It was a lot of cars,” he said. “At least 68 cars were affected

with a total of 98 tires slashed.”

The act was not likely aimed against one person in particular,

Ciszek said.

“The cars that were vandalized were parked in six different

garages,” he said. “It seems to be a random act.”

The vandals entered the subterranean parking area of the apartment

complex and punctured the tires using an unknown sharp object, Ciszek

said.

There was no pattern to the make or model of the vehicles damaged,

he said.

Police don’t have any suspects yet, Ciszek said. It’s difficult at

this point to say if this was the work of one or more individuals, he

said.

“It’s easy for one person to have gone in with a knife and done

this,” Ciszek said. “It doesn’t take much time.”

He wouldn’t venture to profile the vandal, but Ciszek said it was

obviously someone “who had something against the apartment complex.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in the 20 years I’ve been

here,” he said. “I’ve seen tires slashed, but never have I seen 98

tires slashed.”

An incident of this magnitude has never happened at the apartment

complex, community manager Ben Egge said.

The complex is a gated community with video monitors at entry

points and security systems in place, he said.

“We’ve had a few incidents here and there, but our crime rate is

pretty low here,” Egge said. “We haven’t had any security problems on

a regular basis, let alone something on such a large scale.”

The apartment management is working closely with the police

department, he said.

“Our first priority is the safety of our residents,” Egge said.

“Everyone is shocked by the incident, because no one’s seen anything

like this before.”

Security at the complex will be beefed up in the coming days,

indefinitely, he said.

Aurelio Garcia, a former resident at the Lakes, said he had heard

of the occasional vehicle burglaries and break-ins but never

something “this bad.”

The person responsible for the crimes will face a charge of felony

vandalism, Ciszek said.

Anyone with information should call the Costa Mesa Police

Department at (714) 754-5281.