ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) -- There are new questions about a vandal's motive after dozens of car owners find their tires flattened in one Escondido neighborhood.
On Tuesday, Wendy Nunez says her husband left for work early in the morning. "He comes right back inside and tells me the truck has a flat tire," said Nunez.
In a hurry, he hopped into his Chrysler sedan and started driving on Highway 78. "He's driving along and the car starts to slow down. He starts thinking, 'What's wrong?' and then he hears a pop," said Nunez.
Believing he had blown a tire, he was forced to cut from the fast lane to the shoulder of the slow lane. When he pulled over, he discovered one of his tires was completely shredded.
"He could have lost control. It's scary. Makes me shake a little just thinking about what could have happened to him," said Nunez.
There were more concerns when Nunez checked an Escondido Facebook page.
Her neighbors reported more than 20 vehicles had been targeted by a vandal. At least one tire was flattened on each vehicle, including all 3 vehicles belonging to the Nunez family.
What worries Nunez the most: the car her husband drove that morning seemed fined at first. Was that on purpose? The blown tire was so shredded it's impossible to see where it was slashed, but in another of their vehicles, a faint slice is visible. The cut is less than half-an-inch.
It's a small issue her husband to didn't notice until it turned into a big problem on the highway. "The person who did it had to know it could hurt someone.
Very cold-hearted knowing you could hurt someone. It needs to stop," said Nunez. Nunez says it'll cost nearly $700 to replace the tires.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Escondido Police at (760) 839-4722.
