The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police is offering a $5,000 reward and Mayor Michael Nutter is contributing an additional $2,500 to the reward fund.
Members of the Mayfair and Tacony-Holmesburg Town Watch groups were out on patrol again tonight as they have been for several weeks urging people to be on the lookout for the Northeast tire slashers.
"Get involved, send us an email, get involved in your community," Joe Nicoletti of the Tacony-Holmesburg Town Watch said.
Since November of 2011, a total of 55 cars have been vandalized - tires slashed, windows and hoods spray painted.
In the latest case vandals struck along the 8000 block of Aldine Street and in the 4000 block of Teesdale Street late Monday night. Residents called police around 11:55 p.m., and when authorities arrived they found eight vehicles with their tires slashed.
Some of these folks have had their cars hit multiple times, resulting in hundreds of dollars in expenses. Now the victims say they don't know what to do. They have to replace the tires so they can get to work but they're afraid of history repeating itself - again.
David Toledo of Mayfair issued a warning to the vandals, saying, "I hope the cops get them before the neighbors get them because, you know, they did a lot of damage. You know, and if the neighbors get them, God knows what's going to happen to the guys."
The first incident happened back on November 25, 2011 when ten cars had their tires slashed on the 7000 block of Crispin Street. The next incident didn't occur until Monday February 13, 2012, when vandals struck over a dozen cars on the 4000 block of Aldine Street. One neighbor explained, "Her tire got slashed four times: today, two Mondays ago, three Mondays ago, and then two Fridays ago."
Later the same week more than two dozen cars parked along the 4000 block of Aldine and Teesdale Streets were damaged, infuriating residents. The next week a new Acura had all four wheels stolen.
In response, police have boosted their patrols and the town watch recruited more members.
"Somebody knows what's going on, somebody needs to come forward and until that happens, we're going to have this issue," Nicoletti said.
Out of all the cars dusted for prints, police have only recovered one finger print, which was retrieved this morning.
Investigators believe the same people are responsible for all the tire slashing incidents due to the distinctive thin slice on the tires. The slice is thin enough to appear to have been done with a razor blade, but due to the steel wiring walls in tires and the amount of pressure needed to puncture, it is unlikely a razor blade was used. Therefore, police think the doers are using a specific knife in these acts of vandalism.
INFO:
If you'd like to join the town watch effort, contact Mayfair townwatch@gmail.com or on their Facebook page: Mayfair Town Watch
You can contact the Tacony-Holmesburg Town Watch at www.tactw.org
To collect the reward you can submit your tip anonymously to police by calling 215-686-3153.
