Tesla owners across the country plagued by bizarre attacks

A spate of wild attacks have been plaguing Tesla owners across the country – and they have all been caught on their in-built cameras.

The act was caught on the Tesla's camera. Picture: X

A wild spate of bizarre and brazen attacks on EVs across the country has left Tesla owners feeling helpless.

In recent months, there appears to be a huge spike in the amount of Teslas parked in shopping centres, on the side of the street and even in people’s driveways being targeted by strangers armed with sharp objects.

Ironically, all of these attacks are captured on Tesla’s unique ‘Sentry Mode’ feature – the car’s ability to automatically record what is happening around them.

One recent clip shared to social media was captured at Adelaide’s Westfield Marion shopping centre earlier this week.

The video appears to show an unidentified man wearing jeans and a hoodie scratch the side of the car using his keys as the vehicle was parked in the carpark of the popular shopping hub.

The shocking footage quickly went viral on social media, racking up over 650,000 views on X, formerly Twitter.

“Only a coward keys a vehicle,” one said.

“Imagine being that old and angry and immature.”

“Such a dog act. Such a stupid thing to do,” another commented.

“Not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Last month, an elderly man was caught keying a stranger’s Tesla in broad daylight.

The car’s owner, David Shannon, asked the public to help identify the man after he damaged his car at a carpark outside Woolworths in Queanbeyan, on the ACT-NSW border.

The man was caught on the car's camera. Picture: X

“Is anyone familiar with this man? He keyed my car at Woolworths,” Mr Shannon wrote alongside a video of the incident in a local Facebook group.

In the footage, the elderly man can be seen walking past the electric vehicle while holding out a set of keys in his left hand.

After scratching the car, he stops and turns back at the Tesla, appearing to inspect the damage for a few moments before walking off.

In the Facebook post, Mr Shannon confirmed his car was not parked in a disabled spot at the time, referencing a disabled parking sign next to his vehicle.

“The disabled parks are to the right, as the arrow on the sign indicates,” he clarified in the post.

“This is not going to be a cheap fix and I’d love the opportunity to ask him nicely what drove him to this.”

While it’s not known what drove the man to allegedly key the car, the owner speculated the elderly man might simply have issues with electric vehicles.

Many online were quick to blast the man and his decision to seemingly pause and “admire” the damage.

“Can’t believe someone would do that!” one person wrote.

“This is absolutely disgusting,” another wrote.

“It’s scary that he stands back to admire his handy work/damage! Almost proud of himself,” another speculated.

“Seems to be pretty happy with his handy work. Stops to have a good look so no accident,” said another.

It is not clear why he allegedly did this. Picture: X

Back in May, a man was caught appearing to brazenly vandalise a woman’s car in the Sydney suburb of Lindfield while it was parked on a street.

Taking her frustrations to Facebook, the owner explained that she had parked on a residential street near the train station while she went to work.

On her return, she claims she found that her car had been vandalised, with her back number plate and left wing mirror having been intentionally damaged.

“This is the reason that I keep Sentry Mode on at all times!” she wrote on social media, referring to the car’s ability to detect and record motion near it.

“Just a normal day street parking close to the train station. One of the house owners did this.”

In the series of clips, a man can be seen checking his surroundings before approaching the car holding a leaf blower, appearing to damage the number plate and wing mirror.

He was later caught targeting the car again later in the evening, appearing to bend the number plate even more.

The Tesla owner said she contacted police about the incident.

People in the comments were outraged by the man’s bold act, stating it was “outright vandalism” and questioning why someone would go out of their way to do this.

“What is wrong with people? This is just awful behaviour,” one commented, while others described the act as “sick” and the vandal a “grub”.

Earlier this year, an elderly Brisbane couple pleaded guilty to wilful damage of luxury cars.

It came after they were caught keying Teslas at Brisbane’s Brookside Shopping Centre in October 2023.

He appeared to key the side of the car. Picture: X

Raymond Edwards, 70, and his wife Barbara Edwards, 70, were caught on the damaged Tesla’s on-board cameras, with the footage showing the pair weaving through the parked cars before keying the electric car with aim to cause damage.

Brisbane Magistrates Court was told Mr Edwards had also keyed a white BMW parked next to the Tesla.

Defence lawyer, Bruce Peters, said his two clients were earlier in the day allegedly “almost forced” into a power pole by a white Tesla and a white BMW about 800m from the shopping centre.

Peters said the Edwards then “wrongly took (their frustration) out on who they thought were the culprits”.

“Once they regained their composure, they continued onto the Brookside Shopping Centre and lo and behold, the two cars that they thought were the ones that cut them off – a white BMW and a white Tesla – were parked adjacent to one another” Mr Peters said.

“They took their frustrations out on the cars.”

On a Tesla, ‘Sentry Mode’ is a feature that allows car owners to monitor activities around the vehicle when it is parked and locked.

When suspicious motion is detected, the vehicle will react depending on the severity of the threat.

A person is even able to honk the horn, flash the headlights and even speak through the Tesla’s exterior speaker if they need to tell someone to go away.

Originally published as Tesla owners across the country plagued by bizarre attacks