Hundreds of tyres slashed in Al Saad

RESIDENTS of an upscale locality in the Al Saad area woke up to a rude shock yesterday as they found the tyres of hundreds of vehicles parked nearby had been slashed overnight.
The act of mass vandalism unfolded as people came out one by one and approached their vehicles to go to work.
Tyres on regular sedans, SUVs, sports cars – regardless of the year and make – were slit by what the residents described as possibly a Swiss knife. Each damaged tyre had two to three cuts of about 15mm long but deep enough to deflate them.
As the word spread, more residents started finding out that they were among the victims. Some 200 vehicles were estimated to have been vandalised in an area that included the basement parking of a three-storey building complex, covered parking areas of 10 townhouses, the shaded parking of a mosque and the basement parking of a stand-alone building with some 40 flats.
At this building, the felon(s) actually had the audacity – and apparently the time – to bend the security-barrier and enter the basement to carry out the mischief. Even vehicles parked on the pavements and road sides were not spared.
“As much as we are shocked, we are puzzled,” said a Western expatriate.
According to her, both their vehicles – a company-provided one and a private SUV – were vandalised. She said her husband changed the company car’s tyre with the spare one and went to work while the neighbours helped her change the tyre of the SUV. The cost of tyres damaged was in the range of QR200-1,000 per tyre. The total damage is estimated at over QR100,000.
“How can such a thing take place in Qatar? One of the reasons for us to move here was the safety aspect of the country. This is indeed very unpleasant,” one frustrated newcomer said.
A Malaysian couple, who moved to Doha eight months ago, were left dripping in sweat while changing the tyre of their Ford SUV. “This seems very well co-ordinated and is certainly a behaviour-related act,” the husband said.
For most of the SUVs, it was one or both the front tyres that came under the knife, while most of the regular sedans had their rear tyres gashed.
A Toyota Corolla parked outside a mosque, a Mitsubishi Lancer station-wagon and a Nissan Sunny each had all their four tyres slashed.
No pattern was seen in the blatant attack. The raiders have not spared even vehicles left behind by their owners who had gone out of the country on vacation. The only conspicuous factor seems to be “sheer roguery and arrogance”, one of the affected vehicle owners said.