More than 80 cars vandalized after man smashes windshields with brick

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - Dozens of drivers in Virginia returned to a parking lot and found their cars undrivable on Tuesday morning.

Richmond police said an individual smashed more than 80 cars in a parking lot near Main Street Station. It happened at a parking lot around 11 a.m.

According to police, officers were able to get the suspect in custody quickly.

“I saw them putting him in cuffs and getting into the ambulance,” Sydney Lee said. “So I just pulled in and kept going down and I hadn’t even noticed, but the second I parked, I noticed the car in front of me had their windshield out. And then all of a sudden you could just see the whole line, just everything gone.”

Many of the people parked in the lot worked at the nearby VCU Medical Center, including Laura Lee. Her car was among those vandalized.

“It’s just a headache to have to deal with it but I’m just thankful that no one got hurt,” Lee said.

Many of those whose cars were vandalized told WWBT they were frustrated with the lack of timely information about what had happened.

Some VCU employees told WWBT they were not alerted about this until a few hours after it happened, and others said they weren’t alerted at all.

“Someone called me, but it was right when I was getting off. So of course I’m wondering, ‘Is it my car? Is my car affected?’” Aljanette Hall said.

Hall’s car ended up not being one of the vehicles hit, but many others were, leaving drivers without a way to get home after work.

Drivers told WWBT they didn’t understand how something like this could have happened.

“I wish that the surveillance here was a little bit better. I think [almost] 100 vehicles is kind of a lot to get vandalized without anyone catching it,” Lee said.

Police said the suspect, Tyler Holtrust, 33, was arrested and charged with eight counts of misdemeanor destruction of property for damaging 81 vehicles.

“Yesterday as officers arrived to the scene, he had a brick in his hand, which he then dropped as officers approached him,” police said in a news release. “That most likely was what was used to cause the damage.”

A GoFundMe fundraiser was set up to help the victims whose windshields were smashed, some of whom said insurance will not cover the full extent of damages.