A brazen shopper has been caught keying a parked car at a popular Westfield – oblivious to the nearby cameras recording his every move.
The man was captured dragging a key along one side of a car, believed to be a Tesla, at Westfield Marion Shopping Centre in southern Adelaide on Monday.
The suspected vandal, in dark grey pants and a light grey hooded Everlast top, looked in both directions to see if anyone was watching before keying the car.
And while the car’s side camera captured the back of the man, its rear camera filmed the man’s face as he walked along the side.
Westfield said the owner of the vehicle had reported the incident to centre management, but SA Police are yet to receive an official report.
The incident is the latest in a spate of keying incidents across Australia with upmarket EVs commonly the target.
In another similar incident, a 77-year-old man was charged with one count of destroying or damaging property after he was captured keying an EV by its owner, David Shannon.
Mr Shannon shared footage of the man dragging a key across the side of his Tesla parked in Queanbeyan in the ACT on September 19.
The shopper was captured keying the car by the vehicle’s external facing camera (pictured)
He approached the car, believed to be a Tesla, in broad daylight at Westfield Marion (pictured)
An investigation led officers to a nearby home on September 24 and charges were subsequently laid.
The 77-year-old will face a Queanbeyan Local Court on November 11.
Last year, Raymond and Barbara Edward were caught on dashcam keying both a Tesla and a BMW at Brisbane’s Brookside Shopping Centre.
The pair claimed it was ‘out of character’ for them and that they did it because they believed they were cut off by the car in traffic.
Mr Edwards was ordered to pay $2,443 in damages, with Barbara slapped with an $897 restitution cost.
In March, an elderly man was captured keying a parked car in the Uni Hill shopping centre car park in Melbourne.
In 2020, a woman was also filmed keying a Tesla, saying it had been parked in an accessible car space when it should not have been.
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