Police find blood, other possible leads in tire slashings

MARION – Marion police are pursuing possible leads in their investigation into the slashing of tires on at least 71 vehicles discovered Saturday morning, Lt. Ed Brown said.

Investigators collected a sample of blood found at the scene of the cutting of tires on a vehicle on Superior Street, the first incident reported, but not necessarily the first that occurred.

Brown said the blood will be submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and could assist in determining who committed the crimes. He said if police develop a suspect they can determine if that person’s blood sample matches anyone in the state database, and without a suspect BCI can try to determine if the blood sample matches anyone in the state database.

Officers received the first report of a tire slashing at 5:50 a.m. from the incident on Superior Street and eventually learned of tire slashings spanning an eight-street area between Superior Street to the 200 block of North Main Street.

Brown said most of the incidents involved the cutting of one or two tires per car. He provided a rough estimate of the cost of the damage being $100 per tire. He said police continue to compile the number of tires damaged.

The discovery of blood indicated the suspect or suspects “hurt themselves either while trying to slash the tire ... or they could even have been simply closing a knife if it’s a folding knife” he said. Police have not found the weapon used to slash the tires.

Noting the large area in which the incidents occurred, eight streets and several downtown parking lots, he said the slashings may have been done by more than one person working together.

“There’s a lot of vehicles they caused damage to,” he said.

Investigators are pursuing other possible leads in addition to the blood.

“We have a couple things we’re following up on,” he said, declining to disclose any details.

Police will send the blood sample on Monday to BCI, which is closed on the weekend, he said.

Anyone who has information about the incidents is asked to contact the police department at 740-387-2525 or leave an anonymous tip by calling the TIPS line at 740-375-TIPS (8477).

jjarvis@marionstar.com

740-375-5154

Twitter: @jmwjarvis