Tire Slashing

Posted on July 13, 2004 in The Orange

It’s politics Tuesday!

Police have never seen anything like it. Inside a gated community limned with security cameras and other protections, vandals deflated 98 tires on 68 different cars. “I’ve never seen anything like this in the 20 years I’ve been here,” [Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Ciszek ] said. “I’ve seen tires slashed, but never have I seen 98 tires slashed.” Who did it? Someone “who had something against the apartment complex”

An act of personal terrorism? It’s likely. Like the WTC bombing, the act was low tech, easy to pull off. The only tool the creator of this havoc needed was a knife strong enough and sharp enough to break through the sidewalls. It could be done in the space of less than an hour, a security guard’s nap time.

One wonders if the War on Terror intensified the thrill of striking a blow against the residents of the Lakes apartment complex. One wonders if the example the resident in the White House set by unilaterally bombing Iraq powered the arm that wielded the knife. If your enemy offends you, smite him. Did the suspect see himself as freedom fighter or avenger? Was he motivated by the mindset that leads some people to commit murder precisely because they will receive the death penalty for it? In other words, have our laws and our attitudes made this kind of grandstanding more likely?

We will not know until the agent(s) of this crime are caught. And even then, it is doubtful that prosecutors will ask these questions or present them to a jury. 98 tires is a lot of hot air and I do not doubt that the OC prosecutor will do his best to keep any hissing suggestion that our current atmosphere of vengeance inspired this crime muffled.