Police arrest man suspected in Minneapolis Tesla vandalism spree that caused $21K in damage

Minneapolis police on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of keying at least six Tesla cars in the city and causing more than $21,000 in damage.

At a Thursday news conference, police showed car camera videos from four of the incidents. The videos showed a man approaching each vehicle and scraping it with a key. In three of the videos, he was walking a dog during the vandalism.

A 33-year-old man was arrested and booked into jail Wednesday morning and released Thursday afternoon. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it has the case and is reviewing it for possible charges. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.

In some of the videos, it appeared the man was writing something on the cars, but police did not disclose what was written or what the motive may have been.

Over the past couple of months, people across the country have vandalized Tesla vehicles in protest of Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump, and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as they significantly cut federal workers.

The estimated damages to the Teslas ranged from about $1,600 on one car to $10,370 on another, according to a Minneapolis police spokesman.

Christine Vander Hook, the owner of one of the vandalized Teslas, shared pictures showing a single letter, “F,” that was scratched into her passenger door around 2 p.m. March 24 while she was at work. On the back of the car, the scribbling was less clear. She and her husband think it looks like a failed attempt at a swastika.

Vander Hook said she’s frustrated her car was targeted, sustaining about $2,000 in damage, adding that the car had a bumper sticker indicating her family does not support the Trump administration.

“By targeting people who you don’t know anything about, you’re not really accomplishing anything,” said Vander Hook, who purchased her car prior to Musk assuming his advisory role.

The six Teslas were vandalized on different dates in the second half of March, and all but one were located in the downtown area of the city. One was in the parking lot of the Target in northeast Minneapolis at the shopping area known as the Quarry.

Four of the vehicles were damaged within walking distance of the suspect’s residence in the 300 block of Washington Avenue S. The suspect is represented by Robert Paule who declined to comment late Thursday afternoon.

One man told police he parked on 2nd Avenue downtown around 9 a.m. March 22 to take his son to a music class at the MacPhail Center for Music. He returned an hour later to find his car damaged. He said the scratches look “pretty deep” and guessed it would cost about $3,000 to fix.

O’Hara and Sgt. Rob Illetschko, who led the investigation into the vandalism, played the videos for reporters Thursday. The sergeant said he believes there have been “many” more cases of Teslas vandalized in the city that have gone unreported.

They requested the public’s help in reporting additional cases.

Illetschko said investigators were aided by the fact that Teslas are equipped with high-quality cameras that recorded some of the incidents. Police suspect the man of committing six counts of felony-level property damage.

“Damage like this to Teslas is a nationwide event, and here in Minneapolis, we’d like to put an end to it,” Illetschko said.

Paul Walsh of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.