A 23-year-old man has been arrested after 18 cars were smashed up overnight during a wrecking spree along one street.
Shocked residents spoke of their anger after the thug went on the rampage along their quiet residential street armed with a brick.
Officers were called to Byron Road, in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in the early hours of Wednesday morning after receiving reports a vandal was deliberately damaging vehicles.
A total of 18 cars were found with windscreens smashed or wing mirrors damaged as well as a police car parked outside West Bridgford Police Station.
A 23-year-old man was arrested near Trent Bridge shortly after on suspicion of criminal damage and remains in police custody.
A man was arrested after damaging 18 cars with a brick along the same road in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire
Shocked residents were awoken by loud bangs in the early hours of April 12 as the thug smashed their vehicles
Resident Kari Olsen-Porthouse, 49, said she was awoken by three loud bangs at 1:30am as the thug began smashing up her Tesla.
The mum-of-two said: ‘I was woken up at 1:30am by three loud bangs and heard a male voice outside.
‘I looked out the back window but saw nothing before we discovered the damage to our Tesla.
‘Nothing was taken from the car as the person wasn’t able to break through the glass but they had attempted to and smashed the window twice with a brick.
‘Then we realised it wasn’t just our car, and it was a bigger offence and lots of people on the street had been targeted.
‘The insurance doesn’t cover everything and because the glass wasn’t smashed through, we are unable to get or claim a courtesy car on the insurance to drive whilst ours is out of use.
‘I don’t think the window will be fixed until next week so until then we are going to have to hire a car which is an expense we didn’t need.
‘After the incident, people have been very kind and our neighbours have checked in on us to make sure we’re okay.
Resident Kari Olsen-Porthouse, 49, said she was awoken by three loud bangs at 1:30am as the thug began smashing up her Tesla
One resident discovered that his BMW X5 and his work van had both been targeted
A total of 18 cars were found with windscreens smashed or wing mirrors damaged as well as a police car parked outside West Bridgford Police Station
‘I think when something like this happens, it really brings people together and the street is usually a very nice place to live.’
Another neighbour Martyn, 43, who did not wish to give his surname, had two vehicles vandalised on the same night.
He was woken up by police at around 3am knocking on his door and discovered his BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz Vito work van had been damaged.
The dad-of-three said: ‘The back window on my BMW X5 and the front window on my work van had been smashed in.
‘They were parked on the street, and lots of other cars were damaged that night too.
‘The damage seemed to all be on one side of the cars, so it looked like someone just went down the street and smashed them all in.
‘I didn’t hear the incident happen and nothing was taken from the cars, but we now have to deal with the consequences of it.
The cars that were damaged with a brick were all parked along Byron Road, in West Bridgford
A 23-year-old man was arrested near Trent Bridge shortly after on suspicion of criminal damage and remains in police custody
‘I have lived on this street for 17 years and nothing has happened like this before so I’m not scared but the damage to the cars has caused disruption to our lives.
‘It’s just a pain. I am on the second day without being able to go to work as I can’t drive my work van due to the damage, and my wife and kids aren’t really able to do anything as they can’t use the car.
‘It’s the Easter Holidays so it makes it even more of an annoyance.
‘I spent a lot of yesterday trying to sort out the insurance on both vehicles and we really could have done without this.
‘We just could have done without the stress and time off work.’
PC Chris Morgan, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘As many as 18 vehicles had their windscreens put through or their wing mirrors damaged during this incident.
‘It really should go without saying but this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and not what we want to see in our communities at all.
‘We are still in the process of investigating this incident, so we’d ask anyone who has any information that could assist our inquiries to get in touch with us.’
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting incident 32 of April 12 2023, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
