Two teens accused in a spree of vandalism and theft involving at least 30 cars Wednesday are in custody.

The suspects, aged 16 and 17, allegedly slashed tires of cars parked on the street and in underground parking garages, broke into vehicles and even pushed some cars into utility poles.

The swath of destruction stretched more than two kilometres through central Nanaimo, starting early Wednesday night at Albert and Prideaux streets and ending at Cadogan and St. Andrews streets in the Townsite Road area.

Cars with flat tires could be seen along the length of Prideaux Street to Barsby and Caledonia avenues.

“We believe they continued through the park and along the railroad tracks and continued to damage cars on Caledonia Avenue and the Nanaimo German Club – we had seven other cars in that area – and continued up to the St. Andrews/Cadogan area where several cars were pushed into poles,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.

James Calverley who lives on Prideaux Street, was about to get into his car at 4:15 a.m. for an early shift at work, but discovered both driver’s side tires on his car were slashed.

His cab fare was $20, but the deductible on his insurance is $300 and he has to find a way to get his 2002 Buick – purchased just a week earlier – to a tire shop with two flats.

“I’d love to kick the crap out of the little bastard,” said Calverley. “Honestly, if I knew who he was I’d probably beat him.”

Gillian Myers, another Prideaux Street resident, had her vehicle damaged too. And it’s not the first time.

Her 2008 Ford Focus had a tire slashed just last Sunday and two weeks prior to that was keyed, resulting in a $2,000 repair bill.

“I’m frustrated and weary,” said Myers, a five-year resident of the area. “We’re the working poor – we’re not high on the hog. They’ve impacted people’s lives in a big way.”

O’Brien said the suspects were arrested at 5:30 a.m. Thursday and were already on probation for property offences. Charges weren’t formally sworn by Thursday afternoon, but the suspects will likely face charges of mischief, theft, possession of stolen property, a weapons charge and breach of probation.

“Their parents have been contacted and they’re fully supportive of the action that we’re taking,” he said.

But O’Brien was at a loss to explain the carnage.

“The members, of course, will try and determine why they did it, but at the end of the day it won’t really matter,” O’Brien said. “We’ll try and determine if alcohol was a factor. We don’t know at this point. Obviously they’re not targeting any one person specifically. They’re just randomly targeting vehicles for whatever reasons they did. We’ll never understand why.”

Anyone who wants to report vehicle damage relating to this incident is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP Detachment’s non-emergency number at 250-754-2345.

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