Palmetto residents wake up to find tires slashed

PALMETTO (FOX 13) - The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is investigating multiple cases of tires slashed in Palmetto.

Victim Eddie Hicks' sweat and determination wasn't put to use at work Tuesday. Instead it went into changing his family's tires.

Each tire was slashed in an early-morning crime spree.

"From the stop sign all the way down. Every car in every yard was slashed throughout the whole block," Hicks said.

Up and down 3rd Avenue East in Palmetto, neighbors woke up to find their tires flattened.

"To wake up and have something like this happen to the whole neighborhood. You could see one individual being mad at someone, not saying that is good, but everyone is suffering and it's bad," Hicks said.

By the time the tally was completed, 10 cars had been targeted and 17 tires had been slashed.

"As long as we have been in this neighborhood, this has never happened before," resident Henry Waters said.

Waters can't understand why anyone would target their block.

"People are missing work, kids are late for school. That is just more money out of pocket this close to the holidays," he said.

As tow trucks entered the area, emotions ran high.

"Mad, upset and concerned. If you look at where most of the vehicles are parked, the people are coming up in their yards. That time of the morning it brings up concern," Waters said.

More upsetting is knowing how much money must be spent fixing each tire.

"A lot of these people here can't afford to just go buy sets of four new tires right away. People are losing time, money and it just really sets them back," said Hicks.

The neighborhood hopes whoever slashed the tires will be caught.

"I hope whatever they wanted to get out of it they achieved it, because it hurt a lot of people," said Hicks.

Deputies estimate the damage to be more than $2,800.