Ring camera footage captured the moment a masked mugger threw a stone at the car and slashed the wheels of a Cybertruck in Novato, one of the latest in a series of global attacks on Tesla vehicles and the second such event in the little Bay Area area.
The hoodlum struck around 4:22 a. m. Saturday, appearing to way the vehicle, which was parked in a secret street, before returning at 5:41 a. m. to phase an assault, according to the Novato Police Department.
The man covered one security camera with pipe tape but was filmed by a separate lens throwing a fraction of concrete at the car several times and cutting the tires, police said. The man left a written message warning the vehicle to replace all wheels as the car was illegal to travel.
The event was the next new assault on a Cybertruck in Novato.
The earlier Saturday, a unique truck was vandalized around noon in a shopping center parking bit, according to Navato Police Sgt. Wes Carroll. The office does not feel the same individual is responsible for both occurrences, he said.
With Elon Musk’s questionable rise to power in the White House and subsequent undermining of government departments, his modern vehicles have gone from being generally adored by the remaining and clean-energy advocates to becoming a democratic punching bag and target of violence.
In recent weeks, cars have been set ablaze with Molotov cocktails, shot with guns and defaced with spray-paint.
U. S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi has called these acts of violence and vandalism “nothing short of domestic terrorism ” and threatened harsh consequences.
“The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences, ” she said in a statement. “We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes. ”
Jason Bedell, who owns the Cybertruck attacked in Novato on Saturday, told local TV station KTVU that he believes the vandal’s anger is misdirected.
“All these people who have frustration against the government and Tesla and DOGE are taking it out on the wrong people, ” Bedell told the station. “They’re taking it out on their neighbors. They’re taking it out on just working people. Most of these people are Democrats that even bought these EV vehicles. ”
He is now personally offering a$ 25,000 cash reward for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect, the station reported.
The Novato Police Department is also seeking the public’s help in identifying the vandals who targeted the local Cybertrucks and is asking Bedell’s neighbors to check their cameras for any suspicious activity or vehicles between 4 and 6 a. m. Saturday.
As of Monday morning, the department was reviewing and following up on tips submitted by the public and had yet to make any arrests in connection with either incident, said Sgt. Carroll.
In the nearby city of San José, a man was arrested March 17 for allegedly keying a Tesla parked in a Costco lot. San José Mayor Matt Mahan criticized the use of vandalism as a tool of political activism.
“If this crime was politically motivated, our residents can’t be held accountable for something Elon Musk is doing 3,000 miles away, ” he said in a statement on X, urging residents to voice their opinions at the ballot box and not in a parking lot.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations issued a warning to would-be Tesla attackers after a man threw Molotov cocktails and shot at a Tesla service center in Las Vegas, setting multiple vehicles ablaze.
“Specifically to those who might think that something like this is justifiable or potentially even admirable, we want to let you know it ’s a federal crime, ” said Spencer Evans, FBI special agent in charge of the Las Vegas bureau. “We will come after you, we will find you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. ”
Musk, for his part, called the attacks “insane and deeply wrong ” in a statement on X. “Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks, ” he said.
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