WATERLOO — Vandals damaged cars at four separate car dealerships in just over 24 hours, prompting one business to offer $1,000 to whoever helps find and convict the culprits. Three dealerships in the Northfield Drive West and Parkside Drive area had 19 cars damaged around 2 a. m.
on Thursday. A fourth dealership had two cars damaged early Friday. Waterloo Nissan at 141 Northfield Dr.
W. and Kia Waterloo at 583 Colby Dr. were two of the three businesses affected.
The third has not been confirmed. The service manager at Nissan first noticed damage to cars in the dealership’s circular lot at around 7:30 a. m.
on Thursday, including smashed side windows, slashed tires and damage to windshields. “It’s upsetting,” said manager Eddie Alyatim, who said the store is offering the $1,000 to anyone who helps get the culprits convicted. The 15 damaged cars at Nissan included ones that people have bought that are waiting to leave the lot, he said.
He estimates the total damage amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. “We have customer vehicles that were ready for service and now we’re contacting the customers to tell them, ‘Your car has been vandalized. You can’t pick it up because we have to fix it for you,’ ” said Alyatim.
Police described the two Thursday vandals as males about five feet, eight inches tall, with a slim build. The first was wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants, a baseball hat and a backpack. The second male was wearing a black hoodie with white writing, dark pants and a backpack.
Because nothing was stolen, Alyatim thinks the vandals damaged the cars for kicks. “We believe that they’re just going around thinking it’s fun,” said Alyatim. “They haven’t stolen anything.
It was just more about damaging cars. ” Arnel Didic is equally frustrated after two cars were damaged around the same time at the nearby Kia dealership, where he is the manager. A customer noticed a car with a smashed window in the Kia lot Thursday morning, before another damaged car was discovered later.
Both cars had a smashed passenger side window and a slashed passenger rear tire. “There’s already a difficulty getting vehicles in with all the shortages and delays, so having this delaying the process even further is a frustrating point when you’re trying to have everything ready so customers can pick up (their vehicle),” said Didic. “It’s supposed to be an enjoyable thing when you buy a new vehicle.
” The two cars are waiting for replacement windows, which Didic said should take about two weeks. A fourth dealership was added to the list after police received a report of someone damaging and stealing property from two vehicles parked in the lot near Davenport Road and Northfield Drive East on Friday at around 3:20 a. m.
The specific dealership has not been confirmed. Police released a photo of a person they’re looking to identify and speak with in connection to the incident. It’s unclear whether Thursday and Friday’s incidents are connected.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Cheyenne Bholla is a Waterloo Region-based reporter at The Record. Reach her via email: cbholla@therecord.
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URL: https://www.therecord.com/news/crime/2022/06/24/19-cars-across-several-dealerships-damaged-early-thursday-morning.html
