Editor’s note: KOIN 6 News viewers reached out to help one of the vandalism spree victims.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A nasty surprise awaited for drivers around the Fred Meyer at Northwest 20th Avenue and West Burnside in Portland on Thursday morning.
Tires were punctured on at least 17 vehicles outside the store sometime before 6 a.m. Surveillance footage captures the moments a man hits as many as 30 tires and keeps on going — you can even hear the sound of air rushing out as the rubber is stabbed.
A witness told KOIN 6 she called 911 after seeing him walk down the block, slashing tires as he went.
“I saw him start at this Jetta right here and then I saw him make his way with his big shopping cart,” she recalled. “It’s just kind of… I don’t know, I work in this area and I see it all the time and it’s really, really sad.”
Kanoris Rush, who has slashed tires, explained “up on 18th and Morrison, and it went all the way down to 19th and Morrison and they turned right on 19th and Morrison and kept slicing tires all the way up to Fred Meyer’s on 20th and Burnside.”
Sol Henriquez, who lives nearby, said “I heard two men yelling out here and I peeked out my window, but I couldn’t see anything because I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.”
Henriquez was up feeding her cat when she heard commotion but couldn’t see what was going on.
When she woke up, she found out she’ll have to buy new tires along with dozens of other people who parked there overnight.
“I came out to my car to go swimming and found my tires slashed. My insurance is gonna cover all of it,” Henriquez said.
But not everyone has insurance that will cover the cost and Rush told KOIN 6 now he’ll have to worry about how he’s going to pay bills and buy groceries for at least the next few weeks.
“I’m disabled and I’m on disability so, I’m on a fixed income and I’ve gotta pay to get new tires, two new tires now when I didn’t need them. So, I’m going to be struggling for the rest of the month just to replace these tires,” Rush said.
Rush told KOIN 6 he hopes someone will call police if they see the suspect.
Witnesses say the man is around six-foot-five and was wearing a red jacket. Police told KOIN 6 News they searched the area and didn’t find any suspects — and they later said officers did in fact stop someone, but no one was ever taken into custody.