SACRAMENTO-

A south Sacramento neighborhood is still feeling the effects of a vandal who slashed the tires of at least eight vehicles in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Ivana Rackley had her car up on ramps so she could fix a power steering hose that had broken.  The vandal slashed two of her tires just the same.  The tires are just five months old and she no longer has a way to get to work.

“We don’t have a lot of money to have presents in the first place and to have that happen it’s just no fun,” Rackley, who lives on Steelman Circle, said Friday.

Another car owner down the street had his car for sale when all four of his tires were flattened.  Finding a buyer who is unable to test drive the car is a tough sell.

Norma Jean had a tire on her pickup truck slashed.  She said it’s more than an inconvenience for those who have high deductibles on their car insurance.

“A lot of people cannot afford this. What if somebody had to go to the hospital or the emergency room?” she said.

The neighborhood is a couple of miles away from Hayfield Circle, another circular street where about two dozen vehicles had its tires slashed around the same time.  Witnesses saw a shadowy figure in a long coat running from the scene.  Some say it’s more than a coincidence.

“How many different people do you think are going around doing the same thing within the same time frame?” Rackley said.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department agrees that they are most likely related.

A spokesperson for the department says officers will try and find some evidence they can work with. However because they are misdemeanor crimes, they cannot make an arrest unless the crime is committed in their presence.  A citizens arrest is possible, but they are asking residents to take measures to keep cars secure in garages or fenced in areas.  They also acknowledge that that might be difficult to do.