Activists target SUVs in Birmingham by deflating tires
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Vandals have targeted vehicles inside of a Birmingham parking garage over the weekend in a very unusual way.
Brian Borich said he was one of several victims who had their tires deflated.
"I was obviously upset. I wasn't very happy," Borich said.
Borich said he was in downtown Birmingham to get a haircut, and when he returned to his Ford F150 to leave, he noticed a piece of paper on his window.
"I thought maybe I had gotten a ticket, but then I thought to myself, 'I am not parked illegally,'" Borich said.
I got out of my vehicle and grabbed the pamphlet and read it, and it was from this group who had flattened my tires because of the type of vehicle I drive."
The self-proclaimed climate activist group left a letter claiming to have deflated his tires because SUVs are harmful to the environment.
In that letter titled "Your Gas Guzzler Kills," it went on to say: "You'll be angry, but don't take it personally. It's not you, it's your car."
According to a Twitter profile identifying itself as The Tyre Extinguisher, the group claims to be responsible for deflating several thousand tires of SUVs. Their goal is to bring attention to the "climate crisis" caused by gas-guzzling trucks like Borich's.
Borich said he works in construction, and his vehicle is company issued and used for work.
He also said the inconvenience caused him to wait for more than four hours until he could get service to his vehicle.
Borich said he does not believe the group is going about spreading its message in a meaningful way.
"I think they are doing the wrong thing by the way they are approaching it. To damage people's vehicles is not the right way to do it," Borich said.
According to law enforcement sources, if caught deflating the tires of a vehicle, one could be charged with tampering or disorderly conduct. If damages occur as a result of deflating tires, then more serious charges are possible.
