Dozens of tires slashed in Waldo neighborhood

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A small swatch of Waldo has endured relentless vandalism, with dozens of tires slashed, sometimes one after another in a single block.

Kimberly Pogue lives on the 8000 block of Grand Ave. She has no driveway at her home and has three vehicles parked on the street. When she woke up and stepped outside Monday morning, she found tires slashed on every one of them — a car and two trucks. They are all older models, so she didn’t have comprehensive insurance coverage.

“I cried earlier because it’s just overwhelming and stressful,” Pogue said. “Now I have to figure out what the money to come up for all new tires.”

Similar reports have appeared on the Waldo neighborhood Facebook page for nearly a month.

“Our property crimes detectives are very aware of this situation and have been working diligently on it,” wrote KCPD Media Unit Officer Alayna Gonzalez when KCTV5 wrote to ask about it.

KCTV5 searched the KCPD’s crime report map for reports. In a four-square block area — from 79th St. to 83rd St. and Walnut St. to Locust St. — there were 17 reports from Oct. 23 to Nov. 18.

Most occurred on four days in that period. On many of those days, there were two to three reports filed on the same block. That number does not include Pogue’s report on Nov. 20 or the six other reports she said she saw neighbors make on the private Facebook group that day.

“I don’t know what kind of satisfaction they’re getting out of it,” Pogue said. “It’s like they like that people are hurting or something. I don’t know. It’s really sad though that people are just doing this for no reason, you know? Especially around the holidays.”

Gonzalez said property crimes detectives have alerted patrol officers to be “proactive and visible in the area,” especially at night. She indicated the patrol division’s crime analyst has also been reaching out on platforms such as Ring and Nextdoor to obtain any surveillance footage that could “help develop a person (s) of interest and possible pattern.”

Detectives are encouraging victims to contact the Metro Property Crimes Unit at 816-413-3406 if they have any information or questions.

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