Police are on the hunt for vandals responsible for slashing tires in a local college town.
Police say the tire slashing spree began early Friday morning in the Pep Boys parking lot on the 700 block of Delsea Drive in Glassboro. The vandals slashed the tires of five cars that were parked overnight for maintenance.
“We had a customer and one of her husband’s tires was slashed,” said Matthew Garrison, an auto specialist who works at Pep Boys. “It was a $180 tire off of an SUV.”
Police also say the vandals slashed the tires of cars at two off-campus Rowan University homes on South Delsea Drive, located about a mile away. Rowan Senior Jim Yarris found his car with a flat tire Friday morning. Investigators believe the vandals had been lurking in the back of his home.
“Thank God no one was out there because they had a knife obviously,” said Yarris. “Who knows what could have happened if they would have gotten caught.”
Anthony Sanchez, a Junior at Rowan, says the vandals slashed his tires as well as his roommate’s.
“I don’t know if they targeted students,” said Sanchez. “I don’t know if it was a joke because it was right before Easter weekend when a lot of people go home.”
In all, Glassboro Police received 16 reports of tire slashings from Friday to Sunday. Rowan University sent emails alerting the students of the vandalism.
Technicians at Pep Boys are working to replace the damaged tires and hope that the vandals will be caught before they strike again.
“We’re working with the Glassboro Police Department right now,” said Garrison. “They’re investigating it. So at this point, it’s just a waiting game.”
If you have any information on the vandalism, please call Glassboro Police at 856-881-1501 or Rowan University Police at 856-256-4922.
