VIDEO: Man Caught Knifing Tesla In Conifer: 'Someone Recognizes Him'
CONIFER, Colo., (CBS4) – A woman in Conifer is asking for people to help identify a man she believes vandalized her Tesla with a knife over the weekend. On Tuesday, she shared video captured by a camera on her 2019 Tesla Model 3 with CBS4.
The car, which she's owned for about six months, comes equipped with eight motion-activated cameras that can be downloaded to a thumb drive.
Regina, who asked to only be identified by her first name out of fear of retaliation, tells CBS4 she parked the Tesla at the Safeway near her home on Saturday. When she came outside after grocery shopping with her family, she found a large scratch.
"So, it starts here on the driver's side door and goes all the way through to the front panel, right over the camera," she said. "When we got home and looked at the video you can clearly see someone had taken a knife to the car."
According to Regina, the damage is estimated at about $2,500.
She tells CBS4 another camera on the car captured the man, who was dressed in a grey hooded sweatshirt and pants, getting into another car before leaving the parking lot. The video, which Regina said shows an out-of-state license plate, has been turned over to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
"I don't know him, don't know the car," Regina said. "I have no idea why somebody would do that."
In September, CBS4 was the first to report on a similar vandalism incident in Broomfield where woman was caught on camera keying a man's Tesla. That woman, Maria Elena Gimeno, later turned herself into police.
Having the community possibly step up and identify the man in her own case is something that gives Regina hope in her puzzling and infuriating situation.
"This is a small community, it's a tight knit community; certainly someone recognizes him or knows him or his family," she said.
If you have any information about this incident, you are asked to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office tip line at 303-271-5612.