Daniel Flitton was horrified after finding all four of his tyres slashed at the Cranbourne Railway Station car park.
By Sarah Schwager
A SPATE of tyre slashings has left Cranbourne commuters reluctant to catch the train after cars were targeted at Cranbourne Railway Station last week.
Daniel Flitton fell victim to the random acts of vandalism after catching the train to the city last Thursday.
The Junction Village resident returned to the station’s car park before midnight to find all four of the tyres on his car had been slashed three or four times each.
“Obviously, someone has just gone around thinking, ‘this could be a bit of fun – slash, slash, slash’,” Mr Flitton said.
“If someone didn’t like me or I had done something to them, I could understand it. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
On the same day, a woman parked her car at the north end of the car park at 7.30am, and when she returned at 9.20pm, all four of her tyres had been slashed.
There had been reports that other cars were targeted, but police were unable to verify this before the News went to print.
Senior Constable Colin Pyne, of Cranbourne police, said tyre slashings were not a common occurrence and it was very unlucky for the people involved.
But Sen Const Pyne said that unfortunately that was part of the risk of parking a car at a railway station.
“It’s not just Cranbourne. It happens everywhere,” he said.
Mr Flitton, 20, said the act of vandalism had seriously affected him and his parents, who had to bear the cost of replacing the tyres.
The tyres had only been bought four weeks earlier.
Mr Flitton works as an apprentice chef in the city and caught the train as he could not afford to drive all the way into Melbourne.
“I had to buy retreads. It was all I could afford,” he said.
“But I certainly won’t be parking there any more.”
Mr Flitton said he would now drive to the city to go to work, as he did not feel confident parking his car at the train station.
He said security needed to be upgraded at the station, with security guards watching the car park as well as the platform, as well as the installation of more security cameras.
He said he knew many other residents who would be more than happy to pay $5 or $10 to have their cars locked up in a secure car park at the station.
Anyone with information about the incidents is urged to contact the officer in charge at Cranbourne Uniform on 5995 4681.
