Man Steals Tire Off Car, Swaps It With His Own Flat Tire In Bizarre Crime
Imagine finishing your daily shopping, grabbing a few essentials, and returning to your car only to find one tire flat.
You might wonder what happened, particularly if you hadn’t noticed any problem before parking up and leaving your vehicle. The last thing you would expect is to return and find that someone had tampered with your car, let alone that your tire had been replaced with one from another vehicle.
For one Hyundai owner in Covington, however, the explanation was particularly unusual. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday, Sept. 23, that a man who got a flat tire on his Kia Soul off Highway 21 said to have found his own solution — by taking a tire from a nearby parked car.
What Happened?
The Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook of the man accused of removing the tire from a parked Hyundai, before putting it on his Kia Soul. Before doing so, he reportedly went to a nearby business to borrow a jack, only for the Hyundai owner to return to her vehicle and see a flat tire.
Most importantly, the Hyundai owner had not authorized or given permission for the tire to be removed. The Kia rim left on her vehicle, however, confirmed that the flat tire was not something she had simply imagined or noticed before parking up.
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances surrounding the tire swap.
Victim Appeals for Help Identifying Man
The day after the sheriff’s office shared details of the incident on Facebook, on September 24, the Hyundai owner responded to the post and identified herself as the victim. She appealed to social media users for help, asking anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
The woman also explained that she is a full-time employee, a straight-A student and spends her remaining time completing an unpaid internship.
While the sheriff’s office’s post had attracted humor from some social media users, the victim said the situation was less amusing from her perspective.
“Yeah the situation would be ‘hilarious’ to people that aren’t the victim, but just a little empathy goes a long way,” she wrote.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is now asking the public for help identifying the man involved. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Brittany Milazzo at (958) 768-1268.
Authorities have not said what charges he could face if he is identified and arrested.
