A Texas man was arrested after allegedly damaging multiple Tesla vehicles across the city of Texarkana. The suspect was arrested after a Tesla vehicles “sentry mode” cameras captured him driving a “mini four-wheeler” into a Tesla.
The Texarkana Police Department announced in a Facebook post that Demarqeyun Cox, 33, was arrested for allegedly ramming a “mini four-wheeler” into several Tesla vehicles. Police are currently investigating whether Cox was involved in additional acts of vandalism around the city.
Cox is currently being charged with one count of felony criminal mischief and failure to identify. He is currently being held on a $105,000 bond, according to local outlet KETK-TV.
Texarkana Police Department Public Information Officer Shawn Vaughn told Fox News that investigators have linked Cox to multiple instances of vandalism. He is likely only to face one criminal charge, however, as authorities are treating it as “one criminal episode.”
“Basically, you know, several incidents that happened within a very short period of time there. So, it’s one charge which, you know, enhances the charge essentially to a felony because each of those individually increases cumulatively, rather increases the dollar amount of the damage there. So, you know that that gets it to the felony level [of] about two or three,” Vaughn told the outlet.
Police were able to identify and apprehend Cox after Tesla’s on-vehicle security system known as “Sentry Mode,” which comes equipped with cameras and sensors covering all angles around the vehicle. Sentry mode captured Cox, who was riding a small ATV, slamming into the side of a Tesla vehicle that was parked outside a Chinese restaurant.
The suspect has also been accused of using an object to scratch the word “Elon” onto two different vehicles. Despite this, investigators have said they are still working to determine whether the incidents were “politically motivated,” Fox News reported.
Police also received reports of another damaged Tesla after Cox was arrested, though it is unclear whether he had any connection to that incident as of this report.
