British Columbia

42 vehicles damaged in 1 night in Nanaimo, B.C., RCMP say

Keith Work is cleaning up the damage after his truck and 41 other vehicles were damaged in one night in Nanaimo, B.C.

Windows were smashed, tires were flattened and side mirrors were broken, police say

A black car with a white covering on the driver's side window.
The RCMP said it received 42 reports of windows being smashed, tires being flattened and broken side mirrors. Police say the incidents happened between 11 p.m. on Tuesday and 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. (Claire Palmer/CBC)

Keith Work is cleaning up the damage after his truck and 41 other vehicles were damaged in one night in Nanaimo, B.C.

The RCMP said it received 42 reports of windows being smashed, tires being flattened and broken side mirrors. Police say the incidents happened between 11 p.m. PT on Tuesday and 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

"Why the vandalism? It's unnecessary," Work said.

He said he went up to his vehicle early in the morning and noticed the glass of a window on the back of his truck looked "different."

"I touched it, and the window exploded," he said.

A man wears a dark plaid jacket and stands in front of a pickup truck.
Keith Work's truck was damaged in a vandalism spree. (Claire Palmer/CBC)

The RCMP said all of the damaged vehicles were either parked on the street or in parkades or parking lots. 

Officers noted that only driver's side windows were shattered on nine of the vehicles found on Harwell Road, and it appeared a "small projectile" may have been fired at the glass.

Three vehicles parked at Vancouver Island University had windows smashed, RCMP said.

"This is very disturbing and has caused immense disruption and significant financial loss to many vehicle owners," said Gary O'Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP. 

WATCH | Vehicle windows smashed and tires slashed in Nanaimo vandalism spree: 

Vandals damage dozens of vehicles across Nanaimo

8 hours ago
Duration 1:38
In Nanaimo, an overnight rash of vandalism left more than 40 vehicles with smashed windows or deflated tires, across multiple neighbourhoods. Claire Palmer went to find out more about what happened.
 

Joel Boyd has lived in the area where the vandalism occurred for five years. He said he was very surprised by the damage spree.

"It's a family neighbourhood. It's a calm neighbourhood. Very unusual," he said.

It's unknown who is responsible for the vandalism. Police are currently looking for video footage and other evidence.

With files from Claire Palmer