By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — Several residents of Alpha Avenue have discovered their car tires slashed or punctured as the result of two incidents of criminal mischief that have occurred since Thursday night along this street in the Sayre Woods South neighborhood.
Police suspect that juveniles roaming Alpha Avenue between Harold Street and Bushnell Road overnight could be perpetrating the vandalism to the tires, which residents said have occurred on three occasions since Thursday. Reports indicate that the affected vehicles were parked in residential driveways or along the street.
Although there were no known suspects earlier this week, police were investigating the reported incidents, said Old Bridge Police Lt. Jack Sweeney.
"It could be a bunch of kids," Sweeney said. "We’re looking into it."
According to police reports, the tires of at least six vehicles parked in front of five residences were punctured and flattened between 10 p.m. Thursday and 7:18 a.m. Friday, when residents began to report the damage. Police suspect that the tires were punctured with a thin, flat object, possibly a knife, approximately 2 to 3 inches wide, according to reports.
None of the damaged vehicles had all four tires damaged, but an investigation revealed that two of the vehicles had three tires punctured and flattened.
Police again responded to reports of tire slashings on five vehicles on the same block Sunday night. The incidents began to be reported at approximately 5:39 a.m. Monday. A tire on one of those vehicles had also been punctured during the previous incident and subsequently fixed or replaced, reports indicate.
An investigation revealed that two tires had been slashed on each of three of the vehicles, while one tire each was slashed on two vehicles, reports state.
Based on information obtained from one of the victims, whose tires had been damaged twice by the vandals, police indicated that the Sunday night slashings occurred some time after 11 p.m.
Police reports indicate that there have been no witnesses to any of the mischief. No monetary value of any of the damages was indicated on police reports.
Residents of Alpha Avenue told the Suburban that the neighborhood has actually experienced three nights of tire slashings in the past week. They said the vandalism occurred Friday night, as well as Thursday night and Sunday night.
"Every day I get up, and the first thing I do is look at my tires," said Yvette Gonzalez, who said Monday that her neighbors were among the victims. She said neighbors reported that one vehicle had tires slashed on three separate occasions.
She said neighbors were concerned about what they described as a lack of police surveillance in the area, and were hoping that patrols would be stepped up at night in an effort to stop the vandalism.