Anchorage police are investigating a case of early-morning vandalism in Anchorage that has left more than 50 vehicles with their tires slashed around town.
There have been reports of slashed tires in in East Anchorage ,off of Boundary Avenue, and in South Anchorage, where Katie Schrooten lives.
Just after 4 a.m. Saturday, Schrooten — who lives in the Huffman-O’Malley neighborhood of Anchorage — was notified of what the Anchorage Police Department is calling a “massive vandalism.” Three of the tires on her Honda Pilot had been slashed. Schrooten’s neighbor came running over to their door before she called police. By then, she says, what appeared to be multiple suspects had all driven away in a vehicle.
Schrooten and her neighbor were joined by other residents in the area waiting for APD to respond to the call. When officers arrived in the area, “they found that 36 tires had been slashed on 34 vehicles that were parked on Sebring Circle, Silver Spruce Circle, Woodward Drive and Meander Drive off of Huffman Road,” a release from APD says.
“It seems so random,” Schrooten says of the vandalism, adding that though she is shaken up, the crime doesn’t seem targeted.
APD spokesperson Anita Shell agrees. She says that since about 10 a.m. Saturday, Anchorage could be looking at between 50 to 75 cases of vandalism.
“We’ve found that multiple pockets of town have been targeted by vandalism last night, not just the Huffman area,” said Shell. “We’ve had calls off of Stanford Street, off of Boundary, Elmrich, Glenn Abbey, so there’s areas all over town that look like they’ve been hit last night.”
Shell says APD hopes that those with home surveillance will be able to assist in the apprehension of the suspect(s).
“We will send an officer out to collect that evidence,” she said. “Hopefully, we can determine who is what that committed these crimes last night that affected so many people.”
Police are encouraging anyone who was a victim of this vandalism to file a report online at www.muni.org/apd, or residents can call 786-8801 to report their vandalism over the phone.
APD says no arrests have been made at this time, and no suspect information is available. Anyone with information as to the person(s) responsible for this early-morning vandalism is encouraged to call APD at 786-8900 or, to remain anonymous, go to www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.