PORTLAND, Oregon — Several people woke up Wednesday morning to find their car tires slashed in Portland's Pearl District. The damage was centered on Northwest Park Avenue between Couch and Burnside streets.
Some cars had multiple flat tires. By Wednesday evening, four vandalized cars remained along Park Avenue and a fifth vandalized car was parked on Northwest Broadway. The total number of damaged cars was unclear, but people who work nearby said there were several more earlier in the day.
"This morning, I saw a couple of individuals looking fairly frantic and changing some tires," said Deforrest Jackson, who parked in the same area. "I didn't really grab the scope of what was going on at first."
Jackson works nearby and said he's thankful his car wasn’t damaged, but feels for those who weren’t as fortunate.
"It sucks. I would hate to be the person who goes to their vehicle planning on a regular day and seeing that this day just got a lot longer," Jackson said.
KGW reached out to the Portland Police Bureau for comment. A spokesperson called the Pearl District vandalism "frustrating" and noted that officers don't typically get the reports from these types of incidents for days or even weeks after they happen.
In October, someone slashed the tires of more than 50 cars in the Roseway Heights neighborhood near Northeast 72nd Avenue.
Portland police statistics show vandalism is getting steadily worse. In March, police took 1,322 reports of vandalism. That includes everything from slashed tires to broken windows on cars and buildings. That's about 400 more reports made than in March of 2022.
In March of 2019, police took down a total 500 reports of vandalism. Some have grown numb to the numbers, but people who see the statistics in real life say they always hurt.
"It's disturbing and it would be nice if people find something else to do besides destroy things and make a nuisance of themselves," said Mike Bjore, who stopped to look at the damage. "I don't want to say that it can't get any worse, but let's hope it doesn't."