Florida man cut electric scooters' brakes, police say. More than 140 e-scooters vandalized.
A Florida man was arrested after video released by police allegedly showed him cutting the brakes on electric scooters, authorities in Fort Lauderdale said.
Randall Thomas Williams, 59, faces a felony charge of criminal mischief after more than 140 scooters were vandalized in the area near his home since April, police said.
Fort Lauderdale police said in a statement the man was arrested Sunday in the act of tampering with several scooters. According to an arrest report, police observed surveillance video over two evenings of the man cutting the scooters' brakes and covering their QR codes with white stickers.
The scooters, which police said can travel 15-17 mph, are rented via an app. Users can locate the scooters on a map and scan their QR codes to initiate a rental.
Police said in the arrest report that without brakes, the scooters "could cause great bodily injury or death to riders."
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Williams did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
According to the arrest report, scooters from Lime, Bird and Bolt were vandalized. Police were first contacted by Lime.
During their investigation, police observed surveillance video of Williams walking around the neighborhood "in a stealthy fashion utilizing the shadows and alleyways to conceal the movements," according to the arrest report,
Police said they can definitively tie Williams to at least 20 scooters with severed brakes found in the area where he was arrested. Lime estimated $1,400 in damage.
In separate statements sent to USA TODAY, the three companies thanked Fort Lauderdale police for the arrest. Lime said it had not received any reports of rider injuries stemming from the case.
Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida man allegedly cut electric scooters' brakes in Fort Lauderdale
