Vandals slash tyres of about 30 cars in Blackmans Bay

UPDATED: Vandals who wreaked havoc to dozens of car tyres in Blackmans Bay over the long weekend have caused thousands of dollars damage, Tasmania Police say.

Zoe Zhou was one of dozens of car owners in Blackmans Bay who had their tyres slashed over the weekend. Picture: PATRICK GEE

UPDATED: Vandals who wreaked havoc to dozens of car tyres in Blackmans Bay over the long weekend have caused up to $10,000 damage, Tasmania Police say.

Shocked local residents woke on Sunday morning to find more than 20 cars had been targeted in a tyre-slashing spree.

Police said 22 vehicles from Waratah St, Kingston and Pearsall Ave, Blackmans Bay had their tyres punctured sometime between 8pm Saturday night and 10am Sunday morning.

Police said the damage was estimated to be between $8000 and $10,000.

Zoe Zhou was one of dozens of car owners in Blackmans Bay to have their tyres slashed over the weekend. Picture: PATRICK GEE

“It’s believed the offenders were on foot at the time of causing the damage,” a spokesperson said.

When the Mercury drove through the area on Monday there were at least 10 cars with deflated tyres still sitting on the street.

Kingston Police are investigating. Anyone with information is urged to contact the station on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

EARLIER: Vandals have left dozens of cars in their wake during a tyre-slashing spree in Blackmans Bay over the long weekend.

Shocked local residents woke on Sunday morning to find about 30 cars had reportedly been targeted in Diamond Drive and Amethyst Drive and surrounding streets.

They said it appeared someone had been through the dark, hilly and sporadically lit area overnight with a knife and punctured all tyres on the roadside but left the kerbside ones untouched.

One man even said his car was in his driveway when its tyres were flattened.

When the Mercury drove through the area on Monday there were at least 10 cars with tyres that had been deflated.

About 30 cars had their tyres slashed over the weekend. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Zoe Zhou, a 29-year-old University of Tasmania accounting graduate, was one local whose car was targeted.

She said the slashing of two tyres on the driver’s side of her yellow Toyota Yaris would leave her hundreds of dollars out of pocket as her insurance excess would likely make a claim pointless.

“It’s very annoying,” Ms Zhou said. “Fortunately I don’t need to go anywhere at the moment.

“But I need my car to drive to exams sometimes.”

Ms Zhou’s housemate Jose Garcia, 29, who discovered the damage on Sunday morning, said it was fortunate his car was parked off the street because he had to go back to work this week.

“It’s not good because that can happen again,” he said. “If it’s someone in the neighbourhood that’s just having some fun then they might be like, ‘I’ll do it again’.

“It’s such an inconvenience — to get them fixed people have to spend a day, maybe two.”

A Tasmania Police card left under the wiper of one of the cars. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Rick McClean said the crime was “very unusual” and he had never seen anything like it in his 25 years of living in the area.

Kingston Police are investigating the damage to the tyres of 22 vehicles in Blackmans Bay on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

A Tasmania Police spokeswoman said at this stage no charges had been laid.

Anyone with information can contact the station on 6173 2090 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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