AVENTURA, Fla. – Police say they’ve identified and arrested the suspect who vandalized a Tesla with bubble gum at the Aventura Mall.
Yamaris Marrero, 45, of Hallandale Beach, is now facing a felony criminal mischief charge because, according to police, the “large wad” of gum caused $2,623.66 in damage to the electric car’s door handle mechanism.
Investigators said in an arrest report that the incident happened just before 12:45 p.m. Saturday in the JCPenney parking garage.
It was captured on the car’s built-in cameras. Its owner told Local 10 News that he felt targeted as the result of “unfortunately, a divide in our country where certain views that are not accepted by a subset,” referencing controversy over Tesla founder Elon Musk’s association with President Donald Trump.
The report states that a security guard spotted her in the mall’s food court Thursday afternoon and officers took her into custody.
It states that she made an admission, which was redacted from the publicly-released document.
The criminal mischief charge was initially listed in the Aventura police arrest report as coming with a hate crime enhancement.
But the “with prejudice” portion of the charge was quickly changed in bond court Friday, downgrading the felony from a second-degree to a third-degree.
As of Friday, she was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $2,500 bond.