Student Cars on Scarborough Terrace Suspiciously Smashed

Words by Francesca Pietkiewicz (she/they)

On 17 March, Mt Victoria residents woke up to glass covered streets after a multi-vehicle vandalism attack on Scarborough Terrace. 

The offender successfully pulled the stunt without setting off any car alarms, and no witnesses have come forward. The police confirmed they received “multiple” calls from victims, yet there was no consistency within the attack. 

“I don't know why our street was targeted, everything's so random. Now, there’s glass on my backseat and everywhere on the street,” said Greta*, a VUW student.

Benji*, a recent graduate, told Salient the event has caused a stir on the street. “We’ve been double checking our locks ever since [...] I have a street-facing bedroom and I’m often woken up by noises outside, and I heard nothing,” he said.

Greta shared suspicion of the event. “The weirdest thing about it is the alarms didn't go off and no one heard. [...] Were they waiting for a stormy night? “I'm just worried this is going to happen again and if it's going to get increasingly worse or violent, or they come in[side our flats].”  

Liz*, an MFA student at VUW, was suspicious as well. “The odd thing is they didn’t take anything. We were looking at the neighbours’ boot and they've got a fancy 3D printer and [the offender] just left it there,” she said.

Kenny*, a Weltec student, said the event has caused financial issues for residents. “I don't have insurance, [so] it's gonna be way harder to get it fixed,” they said. 

“It was annoying because my insurance wanted to go through someone in the Hutt to get it fixed. I was like, ‘I'm not driving my car out on the motorway in this state,’” Liz said. 

*names have been changed