A video of a man heavily keying a parked Tesla vehicle (probably a Model 3) surfaced on Twitter on Sunday. This video compilation was posted by Lourenzo a friend of this car’s owner.
This video was captured by the cameras installed on the vehicle and recorded by a feature called Sentry Mode. What Sentry Mode does is it starts recording video through the front and both side repeater cameras as soon as the car feels there’s a human or moving object in close proximity.
The vandalized Tesla seen in the Sentry footage (below) was parked at the Parque das Nacoes, in Lisbon, Portugal.
This mature-aged vandal first keyed the right side of the Tesla car then went towards the front and keyed the frunk hood and moments later made a final big scratch on the left side (heart-wrenching for a Tesla enthusiast like me).
However, as the video quickly became viral on Twitter and other social media platforms. This person was caught by the local police officers within hours of this video being posted online, as reported by Lourenzo.
UPDATE: thanks to the amazing online community we found him in record time. Someone from the family of the vandal in question reached out to the owner of the car and I’m guessing things are being taken care of. Thanks to everyone in the community for your precious help!
via Twitter.
As this act is purely condemnable, these sorts of people have very limited knowledge of how Tesla vehicles work and they can easily be caught in the act.
I am not sure of Portuguese laws about this sort of vandalism and to what extent this act is punishable but it surely damaged the social reputation of this person at least.
However, in the United States, 2 vandals became largely infamous on the national level back in 2019 when Sentry Mode recorded these guys keying a Tesla Model 3 in Sacramento, California. Later on, they had to turn themselves to the local police and settle the matter.
And just recently, Sentry Mode alerts on the owner’s mobile helped him trace his rented Tesla Model 3 on Turo only to be found at a workshop with replaced car parts.
This security feature alone is enough to make Tesla vehicles way better than what legacy automakers are making with outdated technology. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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