Close to 50 reports of tires slashed in Kyle, suspected slasher in custody

According to Kyle police, the suspected tire slasher lives in the neighborhood, but a motive is unclear.

KYLE, Texas - People living in East Kyle got a surprise awakening early Monday morning, followed by an unpleasant discovery.

"I looked out my window and I saw a cop car," said Noah O’Neil, 11, whose parents had a car tire slashed. "I asked him what was going on and he said there was a guy going around the neighborhood just slashing tires and I was like, ‘Wow,’ kind of in shock."

A few houses down, Tiffany Liebe was affected as well.

"Everyone in the neighborhood’s changing their tires, trying to work together to get kids to school; my boyfriend and I had to go to work so we had to swap cars," she said. "It’s kind of just frustrating, you know, unnecessary out-of-pocket costs."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Chief Jeff Barnett with the Kyle Police Department said they had had close to 50 reports of tires slashed in the Woodlands Park and Cool Springs neighborhoods.

The initial calls came in early Monday morning around 3 a.m. Police spent the afternoon taking reports from residents.

Late Monday night, the alleged perpetrator returned and was spotted again. Russell Kershaw, 35, was arrested and is now facing criminal mischief charges.

According to police, he lives in the neighborhood, but a motive is unclear.

"It appeared random in nature," said Chief Barnett. "There wasn’t really a system or a pattern; they would skip houses."

If you were affected and haven’t reported it to police, call the KPD non-emergency line at (512) 268-3232.