Police in California’s San Jose have arrested an individual who was allegedly caught on camera damaging a Tesla with his keys. The incident occurred at a Costco car park in South San Jose last week.
The surveillance footage shows an individual wearing an American flag-adorned jacket. The Tesla’s camera system recorded him extracting a key and causing scratches to the vehicle. The incident was captured by Tesla’s Sentry Mode surveillance system in a Costco car park situated at 2200 Senter Road, as per the San Jose Police Department. According to local news reports, the event occurred on Friday.
A second recording depicts a confrontation where an unknown individual confronts the suspected vandal about damaging the Tesla vehicle. This interaction seemingly took place days after the viral spread of the initial footage on social media.
The San Jose Police Department confirmed an arrest, with Chief Paul Joseph calling for mutual respect and legal compliance, regardless of personal viewpoints. A post on X attributed to police chief Joseph stated, “Within less than 24 hours of the viral vandalism incident being reported to the San Jose Police Department, we successfully identified, located, and arrested the individual responsible for this act of felony vandalism. This senseless crime and its subsequent consequences should serve as a clear reminder: no matter one’s personal beliefs or frustrations, they do not justify illegal actions. I urge everyone to respect one another and, above all, to respect the law.”
On platform X, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also addressed the situation, noting that damaging Tesla vehicles locally would not impact Elon Musk in Washington. “Keying a car because you don’t like the person who designed it is like breaking a clock because you don’t like the time it shows. 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. Further adding praise for the Police, he added, “I want to thank @SanJosePD for finding the person responsible and urge us all to voice our opinions where they matter — at the ballot box, not in a parking lot.”
Elon Musk responded on X by sharing the post with an American flag emoji. In subsequent posts, he likened the Tesla vandalism to domestic terrorism.
This San Jose incident joins a series of recent Tesla vandalism cases and a notice from the US. Attorney General. In Las Vegas, an armed individual carrying Molotov cocktails conducted what authorities described as a “targeted attack” on a Tesla facility, spray-painting “resist”, discharging a firearm multiple times and setting several vehicles ablaze.
Even US President Donald Trump has addressed the situation, saying that he considers attacks on Tesla ‘domestic terrorism’.
