A Florida woman has been arrested and charged with felony vandalism after allegedly attacking a Tesla with a “large wad” of chewing gum that caused nearly $3,000 in damage to the electric vehicle built by Elon Musk. The disgusting attack was captured by the EV’s built-in cameras.
Yamaris Marrero of Hallandale Beach, Florida, was charged with felony criminal mischief after a Tesla’s built-in cameras caught her using a “large wad” of gum to create $2,623.66 in damage to the EV’s door handle mechanism, police said, according to a report by Local 10 News.
Authorities say the 45-year-old vandalized the Tesla just before 12:45 p.m. on March 22 in a JCPenney parking garage.
The owner of the electric vehicle told the outlet that he felt targeted due to “unfortunately, a divide in our country where certain views that are not accepted by a subset,” referring to the left’s outrage over Elon Musk’s association with President Donald Trump.
Arresting documents reportedly state that a security guard spotted Marrero in the food court of Aventura Mall — where the damage to the Tesla was carried out — on Thursday afternoon, and officers took her into custody.
The report claims that the Trump hater then admitted to the crime.
Marrero’s felony charge initially included a hate crime enhancement, but the “with prejudice” section of the allegation was removed in bond court on Friday, downgrading the crime from second-degree to third-degree.
As of Friday, the alleged vandal was still sitting in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, being held on a $2,500 bond.
Notably, last week’s chewing gum Tesla attack makes for the latest in a series of assaults against Musk’s company across the country since New Year’s Day.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
