Police say tire slasher 'victimized' self

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PHILADELPHIA, April 26 (UPI) -- A man whose tires were slashed twice during an epidemic of vandalism in a Philadelphia neighborhood has been charged as the slasher, police said.

David Toledo, 44, was arrested Tuesday night at his home in the Mayfair neighborhood, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

At least 55 incidents of tire slashing have been reported in the neighborhood since last fall.

Toledo had appeared to be a double victim. The four tires on his Jeep Cherokee were vandalized two months ago and again last week, and his wife's car was attacked on two occasions.

Some neighbors said they had been suspicious of Toledo. He and his wife moved in not long before the vandalism began.

While Toledo was active in denouncing the vandal and in organizing neighborhood patrols, he sometimes seemed to be on the spot a bit too much, the newspaper said.

Oliver Pagan said Toledo came out of his house at 4 a.m. recently asking if tires had been slashed just after police discovered some. Pagan was on his way to work at the time.

"How'd he know? I thought that was suspicious," Pagan said.

Bryan McConnell said Toledo showered him with attention when he moved to the neighborhood in January -- including calling him and asking him to patrol the streets.

"He was an attention junkie, a narcissist," McConnell said.