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Bloomington PD seeks Tesla vandalism suspect
The Bloomington Police Department is seeking a suspect after a Tesla was keyed in an incident of vandalism at a Cub Foods parking lot.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - The woman accused of keying a Tesla in a Bloomington grocery store parking lot will not be facing charges, according to police.
Tesla vandalism
The backstory:
On March 26, a woman was caught on camera walking up to a Tesla in a Cub Foods parking lot just before keying it, which caused an estimated $3,200 in damages. Police posted a video of the incident on social media and asked the public to help identify the individual.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said Tuesday that the woman involved turned herself in and has been fully cooperative with authorities. The victim in the case wanted the woman to pay for the damages, which she did, and authorities are not moving forward with a criminal case.
"This is the best outcome for everybody involved in this case," Hodges said in a video update, adding that "the suspect in this case may have been a victim, and I mean victim in terms of the rhetoric that is being spewed out here by some of those in leadership."
Big picture view:
The Bloomington case is part of a broader attack on Tesla vehicles in recent weeks. Some people have sprayed vehicles with graffiti while others have set them on fire and even shot at them. The FBI has formed a task force to help crash down on Tesla vandalism, with FBI Director Kash Patel calling the incidents acts of "domestic terrorism."
While the woman isn’t facing charges, Hodges noted, "We’re going to hold the charges over their head just to ensure that they don’t do anything similar to this in the near future."
The Source: Previous reporting from FOX 9 and videos posted by Chief Hodges were used in this report.