Slashings Pose Nuisance

When senior Katie Moyer left her car parked above Hillside over spring break, she had no idea that she would be welcomed back with a $79 bill for her freshly slashed tire.

Students were surprised to receive an email over spring break reporting that their cars had been vandalized while parked in the upper parking lot of Hillside along Smith Avenue. The Harrisonburg Police Department was notified after the physical plant alerted students about the situation. There were at least four vehicles with what appeared to be knife punctures in the sidewalls of the tires. There was also an attempt to smash one of the car's windows with a shovel, which was left beside the car.

According to Moyer, the cars seemed to have been randomly selected, although the nicest cars seemed to have been left alone.

Three of the students involved were all on the same spring break trip in Sarasota, Florida. There was some question of conspiracy, but Moyer, who went along to Sarasota, thinks it "was just a random act of hate. It was probably a bunch of high school kids who didn't really think about the effects it would have on other people."

Another senior on the trip, Kyle Mast, was confused by the choice of his automobile. "My car is one of the oldest and most beat-up on campus, I don't know why anyone would target it. It would have been better if they had just kicked it or keyed it. A slashed tire means I actually have to fix something." Students were mainly frustrated with the cost of repair. Junior Anny Smucker said, "It was really disheartening to get a call while in Florida over spring break to be informed that my tire had been slashed. I found it rather annoying that someone thought that this would be a fun thing to do when it costs so much to repair and especially after I had just had all my tires replaced!"

Upon hearing about the incident, freshman Dylan Zehr said, "I wonder if there's any relation to the sleeping bags being slashed down in Park Woods earlier this year. Vandalism is starting to run rampant around here." Whether or not the situations are related, EMU students are concerned about how to avoid potentially hazardous situations. Zehr plans on keeping his car parked in well-lit areas at night and making sure his doors are locked.