Surveillance Video Shows Woman Keying Tesla Model 3 In School Parking Lot
UPDATE: Maria Elena Gimeno, 57, turned herself in to police on Oct. 2.
BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) - A father who parked his Tesla in a school parking lot in Broomfield came back to find it vandalized Saturday morning. The nine built-in cameras on his car captured video of the woman who keyed it -- putting a deep scratch along the driver's side.
Alan Tweedie's prized-possession is his 2018 Tesla Model 3. He uses it to commute everywhere, and never had a problem until Saturday morning, when he parked at Legacy High School for his daughter's nearby soccer game.
"You can feel down to bare metal and you can see it's scratched all the way completely through the paint," Tweedie said while showing off the large scratch, spanning the majority of the driver's side of the car.
Tweedie said he found the damage when he got home. That's when he decided to test his car's newest feature: nine motion-activated cameras found in several strategic places.
"Then I found one where a woman distinctly came around with a key in her hand, dug it right in the side, walked it all the way up," Tweedie said. "Very angry, very purposeful, definitely trying to conceal it."
Tweedie was shocked. He told CBS4 he doesn't recognize the woman or know why she did it, but says there's no way it was random.
He's since filed a report with Broomfield police, but decided to take matters into his own hands, too. His video of the keying now has more than 100,000 views on Facebook.
"It really speaks to the level of anger for a crime like this that so many people are willing to spread it and share the word and try to help us find it because nobody likes this," Tweedie said. "This is my car but it could be yours next."
Without video, this type of crime would be difficult to investigate due to the usual lack of physical evidence, a spokesperson for Broomfield police said.
In this case, officers estimated the damage at $2,000. Because of that, the woman could face felony charges.
"Turn yourself in, do the right thing," Tweedie said. "Be a better person than you were yesterday when you were gouging the side of my car."
If you recognize the woman in the video, Broomfield police ask for you to call non-emergency dispatch at 303-438-6400 and ask for Officer Lundsford.
