NORFOLK, Va. — A morning Maya Woloshyn thought would be a quiet start to the new year, instead became her first headache of 2024.
"Woke up, went to walk my dog, then saw my two driver-side tires were flat," Woloshyn told 13News Now.
On the morning of Jan. 1, Woloshyn found the tires on her 2017 Kia SUV slashed, along with most of the other cars in her apartment complex off Ocean View Avenue.
"Texted all my neighbors to say ‘Looks like somebody flattened our tires last night, as some cruel little New Year's gift,'" she wrote.
In a police report filed to the Norfolk Police Department, Woloshyn wrote:
"...looked around the parking lot to see that every car had two flat tires. So it appears that as a 'Happy New Year' gift, somebody came around and slashed tires on all the cars in the parking lot of our small apartment complex at 1930 East Ocean View Avenue. The only car spared was the one closest to the building, likely because the floodlight shines right there."
Woloshyn said there were five or six cars with slashed tires in her complex alone, some of which were still un-repaired as of Tuesday morning.
Tires slashed on nearly a dozen vehicles in Norfolk's Ocean View neighborhood
Neighbors told 13News Now the same thing happened at two other apartment complexes nearby along Ocean View Avenue. In a private condominium complex in the 1900 block of Ocean View Avenue, a pickup truck as well as a Honda SUV had slashed tires as well.
The owner of the Honda told 13News Now that they found an appointment on New Year's Day to replace the tires, and it had been towed away while the pickup truck remains parked sitting idle.
Another apartment complex in the 1700 block of Ocean View Avenue saw five cars with slashed tires Monday morning as well, bringing the total number of impacted cars and drivers to roughly a dozen.
"It's a hit financially, but I can afford it. Some people may have families and children, maybe spent a lot of money for Christmas and maybe looking to save for January," Woloshyn said, adding that her insurance deductible wouldn't be able to cover the cost of the new tires.
A Ring door camera video shared by a resident of the 1700 Ocean View Avenue complex shows a person near the cars just before the drivers discovered the damage Monday morning. He and the neighbors believe that person may be the one responsible for the vandalism.
Norfolk Police officials confirmed there are at least three vandalism reports filed for Ocean View on the morning of Jan. 1.