Woman accused of vandalizing Cybertruck
Security footage from a Tesla Cybertruck shows a woman scratching the Cybertruck using a wooden board with nails sticking out of it.
Lewis
A Hickory bike shop owner's Tesla Cybertruck was vandalized by a woman wielding a board with nails in Caldwell County on Sunday.
Jason Hooper, the owner of Carolina Pedal Works, said he went to Hard & Flossie Clark Family Park in Collettsville for a bike ride on Sunday. When Hooper returned to his truck about three hours later, he found a wooden board leaning against the tire and a rusted metal sign underneath the vehicle, he said.
The truck recorded what happened while he was away.
"I got in the truck and then started playing the videos back," Hooper said. "You could just watch the lady come along the side of the truck with freaking wood with nails in it."
Karen Cooke Lewis, 67, of Lenoir, is charged with misdemeanor injury to personal property. Lewis was arrested on Tuesday, according to court documents.
"The arrest comes after a man reported that a female had taken a board with nails on it and scratched his Tesla Cybertruck on Sunday in Collettsville," the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. "The Cybertruck captured the female on video and she was quickly identified."
Hooper said there are six cameras on the exterior of his Cybertruck. Hooper said he has never met Lewis.
"It's silly. You know, really, like, this whole thing is just so easily avoidable," Hooper said. "It doesn't do anything good for anybody involved. But it's funny to me, in a way, but it's a pain in my ass. Now I'm going to have to get my truck fixed. It's obviously a pain for this lady, because she got arrested yesterday, and then she's got to go to court and she's got to pay me back for all of this and for what?"
Hooper said he did not know how much repairs for the vehicle would cost. Court documents said the damage would cost more than $200 to fix.
"You can't even tell that it happened, but because it's just bare metal on the side, so, like, it scrapes into more metal. If it was a regular car, you would see it," Hooper said. "The problem is it's starting to, like, rust where she scraped into it. I'm going to have to get it fixed sooner than later, so it doesn't become a problem. It's going to be expensive because they have to do the whole panel."
Hooper posted the security footage from his Cybertruck to Facebook. Hooper said he didn't expect the video to get as much attention as it has. Hooper said he can laugh at the situation now after it went viral locally and social media users created memes about the vandalism.
Lewis appeared in Caldwell County District Court on Wednesday and was released on bond. Lewis is scheduled to appear in Caldwell County District Court again on April 15, according to court documents.
Lewis is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Sarah Johnson is the courts and breaking news reporter for the Hickory Daily Record.
