Tires Slashed on 59 Cars in West Philly

Police and some angry residents in West Philadelphia are on the lookout for vandals who slashed the tires on nearly vehicles.

The tire slashings occurred in the pre-dawn hours Monday, around 5:30 to 6:40 a.m., as cars parked on the 4700 to 5000 block of Hazel Avenue and on the 5300 block of Chancellor Street were hit, according to Philadelphia Police.

Surveillance video shows a man and a woman walking down the street around 5:30 a.m., with the man stooping to quickly puncture two tires on a vehicle and then walking down the street apparently cutting tires as he goes.

The first suspect is described as a dark complexion black man, about 5-foot-11-niches tall who was wearing dark clothes. The second suspect is described as a stocky black woman in her 30s, about 5-foot-3-inches tall with long hair who was wearing a red or pink jacket and was carrying a light-colored bag.

Resident Erik Gorbsky says it's a neighborhood of working-class families and every dollar counts. He says the vandalism comes at an especially bad time because it's right after the holidays.

Police acted quickly in announcing $10,000 worth of reward money ($5,000 from the mayor's fund and $5,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police) for the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the “senseless and hurtful crime.”

Last year, the city's Mayfair section was plagued by a tire slasher for weeks. A neighborhood activist, David Toledo, was arrested and arraigned on multiple charges in that case.