VIDEO: Vandal Tears Apart Car For 6 Hours While Passersby Watch, Take Pictures
KOREATOWN — A woman was left in tears and without a car after a vandal went to town on her vehicle for hours while passersby stopped to take pictures instead of calling police.
Stacy Omelinoff, a church-going woman, returned from a Thanksgiving trip on Friday to find her car a total wreck. She said she left her Buick Lucerne in front of her friend's house on Thanksgiving night in Koreatown to celebrate the holiday in Chino. On Friday morning, she woke up to find her car vandalized and destroyed.
"I just broke down and just cried, like it can't be true," she said. "And now I'm out of a car period."
She quickly found out who was behind the damage after watching video from her friend's security camera.
Around 3 a.m. Friday, a woman could be seen approaching the car and then breaking off the windshield wiper. She used the wiper along with a pipe and a piece of wood to carve letters and illegible words all over the car.
But she wasn't finished — she could be seen climbing atop the car and jumping on the roof, causing more damage. After she's seen taking a rest by lying on the hood, she came back and tore off the gas cap and then ripped off the grill. She flattened a tire using the piece of wood that had nails in it.
When all was said and done, the woman attacked the car for six hours.
"I'm angry, I'm hurt, frustrated, and at the same time I understand that she has a mental problem," Omelinoff said through tears.
After a business owner called police around 9 a.m., the vandal was taken into custody by LAPD.
Omelinoff said she is even more upset because many onlookers saw the woman at work and didn't take action.
"They would come by, stop, back up, take pictures, video, and just take off," she said.
Making it even harder for her is that she just lost her job and only has liability insurance.
The LAPD said the suspect is being detained on a 72-hour psychiatric hold and is still being evaluated.
If you want to help Stacy repair her car, click on her GoFundMe Page.