The Mayfair tire slasher was screwing around with some parked cars in his new neighborhood, so authorities nailed him with more criminal charges, according to Philadelphia police.
Officers arrested David Toledo on Friday, two days after a couple of SEPTA bus drivers reported that they saw him plant nails and screws under the tire of a car that was parked on the 1600 block of Creston St. in Oxford Circle, said Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives. Toledo, 46, moved into a relative’s home on that block after authorities fingered him for puncturing the tires on dozens of cars in the area of Frankford and Cottman avenues in early 2012, where Toledo was living at the time. A Common Pleas Court jury convicted Toledo on 15 of 59 charges last February. A judge subsequently sentenced him to serve two years probation and pay about $900 in restitution.
Investigators believe that Toledo may be responsible for a recent rash of auto vandalism in his new neighborhood and that his motive was to discourage employees of a nearby SEPTA bus depot from parking on Creston Street. Detectives are trying to identify additional victims.
“We’re looking for people from the immediate area who in the last few weeks have had their tires repaired due to damage and we’d like them to call up Northeast Detectives,” Rosenbaum said.
The phone number is 216–686–3153.
Toledo is charged with criminal mischief, possessing an instrument of crime and harassment stemming from the Nov. 19 incident. In the pre-dawn hours that morning, a bus driver showed up early for his shift, parked on Creston Street, turned off his engine and sat there listening to a sports radio station, Rosenbaum said. While sitting in the car, the driver saw a man walking his dog and carrying what appeared to be a piece of litter. As the man approached the car, he leaned over and appeared to drop the litter. When the driver exited his car, he saw that the dog-walker had placed a glue mouse trap with screws and nails attached to it under his tire.
Another bus driver was sitting in a separate car at the time and saw the dog-walker enter a home on the block. Neither of the SEPTA employees initially recognized the alleged vandal as the infamous Mayfair tire slasher, Rosenbaum said, but police obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s house. Rosenbaum described the search as “very fruitful,” although he declined to specify what detectives found.
During follow-up interviews, police learned from other witnesses that someone has been tossing loose screws and nails on streets around the bus depot for weeks.
Toledo remains on probation in connection with the 2012 Mayfair case. Information about his upcoming violation of probation hearing was not available. Toledo will also go to court for a preliminary hearing on the new charges, but the date has not been determined. Toledo was freed from jail on Saturday after posting 10 percent of $25,000 bail. ••
