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Police Make Arrest in Hyde Park Tire Slashings

Police charge a 56-year-old men in connection with tire slashing incidents in Hyde Park
Image Courtesy by Austin Police Department
Police charge a 56-year-old men in connection with tire slashing incidents in Hyde Park

Austin police think they've solved a case that's seen hundreds of tires slashed in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

56-year-old Tommy Joe Kelley has been charged with four counts of unlawful use of a criminal instrument, based on four earlier encounters with APD officers.

"And in those four occasions, he was found to be in possession of a metal handmade tool, that we believe he created to allow him to puncture the sidewalls of tires very quickly and easily," Detective Eric Hodeski told KUT News.

Law enforcement authorities say Kelley has been charged in connection with tire slashings from the past two years.  But police have suspected him of being responsible for damage to hundreds of tires in Hyde Park since 1994.

Ian Crawford joined KUT as News Editor in 2008, after spending over four years as a reporter/anchor at KLBJ Radio in Austin. He began his broadcasting career while still in high school in Southern Oregon. During high school and college at the University of Oregon, he worked at times as a reporter, news anchor, sports play-by-play reporter, music host and commercial producer before moving to Texas in 2003.