TeslaCam Footage Helps Police Arrest California "Serial Keyer"

A Tesla's Sentry Mode filmed the vandal keying two cars in a parking lot, provoking $4,800 worth of damage to the EV alone.

03:43

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Jun 6, 2022 at 3:14pm ET

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If you love cars and common sense, you'll probably find the above video from the Wham Baam Teslacam YouTube channel a bit disturbing. A vandal was caught on tape by a Tesla's Sentry Mode repeatedly keying cars in a parking lot in California—including the EV—and even returning to the crime scene to check out the quality of his "work."

Now, troubled individuals have been keying cars ever since automobiles have started to become a common sight on our streets, but the truth is we've become way more aware of this strange phenomenon in recent years with the proliferation of video surveillance.

Cars nowadays are equipped with several cameras from the factory and Teslas lead the way with their eight-camera system than enables features like Sentry Mode and Dashcam.

Sentry Mode has brought us lots of disturbing videos in recent years, and this piece right here certainly fits the bill. Alerted by the vehicle of suspicious activity around his car, the owner of a Tesla returned to the parking spot and found deep scratches on the entire left side of the vehicle.

He started watching the TeslaCam footage and saw a man wearing a white hoodie and a face mask keying his car only to return some minutes later to feel the scratches in the paint with his fingers. After this twisted "quality control" session, the man disappeared, but not for good.

He returned a while later dressed slightly differently, but he was still up to no good. The Tesla's cameras once again caught him keying a vehicle, this time a Jeep Wrangler parked next to the EV.

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With enough evidence on hand, the Tesla owner called the police when he spotted the culprit driving around in the parking lot. The officers were quickly convinced by the Sentry Mode footage that the man keying the vehicles was the one in front of them, so they arrested him.

The total repair cost for the Tesla was over $4,800, but the owner will be seeking restitution from the vandal for the property damage. Had Sentry Mode not caught the disturbed individual in the act, the owner likely would have had to pay for the whole thing out of his pocket.