DENVER — Times are tough enough for residents who have been furloughed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but they just got a little tougher for some in the Cole neighborhood.
Several residents on Vine Street woke up Sunday morning to loud knocks at their front door.
"Police told us we had people breaking windows and slashing tires up and down the street," said neeighbor Cammie Thomas. "They slashed two tires on my car and two on my partner's vehicle."
She said her partner is among those not currently working.
Neither is neighbor Edward Bryant.
"I Just got furloughed," he said.
Bryant said the slashers ruined a tire on his Mercedes Benz, and another on his Cadillac.
"It's like we're already dealing with hard times anyway, and you've got people who want to come up and down the street and slash tires?" he said.
At least 15 cars were targeted on the 3200, 3300 and 3400 blocks of Vine Street.
Neighbor Taylor Hirschberg said all four tires on his car were slashed.
"Our front left tire had a nail in it, so we replaced it two days ago," he said. "Today, this is unfortunate."
Hirschberg said he and his husband are still working, so they'll get their tires taken care of.
He said he's more concerned about neighbors who don't have an income right now.
"One of our neighbors was sitting in his car, crying this morning," Hirschberg said. "He was devastated. He has family to take care of, older parents. It's difficult to see neighbors struggle like that."
Hirschberg set up a GoFundMe account to help his neighbors. It's called: "Flatten the curve and not our tires."
Police went door to door talking to residents and asking if anyone had security video.
At first, neighbor Yasmaine Ford thought she was the only victim.
"I came outside to take my daughter to work and saw the tire was flat," she said. "I tried to put air in it and noticed the sidewall damage. I felt the air rushing back out."
Ford said she called an Uber to pickup her daughter, then went out to do some gardening.
That's when she noticed several police officers up the street.
"I walked out into the street and that's when I noticed several other cars had flat tires," she said.
Anyone who noticed anything suspicious on Vine Street overnight Saturday into Sunday morning is asked to contact Denver police at 720-913-2000.