Two-dozen vehicles vandalized in W. Philly

About two dozen passenger vehicles were damaged this morning by vandals who slashed tires, doused cars with a corrosive chemical and dumped sugar in gas tanks in the Overbrook section, police said.

Capt. Melvin Singleton, commander of the 19th Police District, said tires were slashed on 17 cars and the paint on seven other passengers vehicles had been stripped away by an acid-like substance.

Some cars also had sugar in the gas tanks, he said.

A Fire Department Hazmat Unit was called to the scene to scrape off some of the corrosive chemical for testing.

Singleton said the damage occurred sometime between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. on the 6300 block of Lancaster Avenue, a residential block.

The vandalism follows a series of highly publicized damage sprees in Northeast Philadelphia during which scores of tires have been flattened and paint jobs ruined at a cost of thousands to the cars' owners.

On Monday, police arrested a 21-year-old man for puncturing the tires on nine cars in Mayfair.

Police said they believe the vandalism is the work of a number of copycats.