When he got home, he discovered his partner’s daughter’s car had also been attacked.
Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said yesterday a woman "angry at the world" vented her frustration by slashing the tyres of many of her neighbours’ vehicles in the middle of the night.
A man who lived on the street was inside his house when he heard the "hiss" of air being released from his car, Sgt Lee said.
When he peeked outside, his neighbour was found to be slashing his tyre.
He went outside and asked his neighbour — who he had never had a problem with before — why she was slashing his tyres.
The woman then pushed the man and left the scene.
Police found her at her home and arrested her about midnight.
She then admitted to an officer she had also slashed multiple other tyres around the area, police allege.
Neighbours estimate tyres on up to 30 cars were slashed and one said he needed $1000 worth of new tyres.
One of the woman’s neighbours said her partner only discovered the tyre of his ute had been slashed when he was driving around a roundabout in the dark.
"Because it was dark when he left, he didn't realise, you know, all the tyres were flat on the street," she said.
Her daughter’s car had also been damaged.
"We’ve just had to pay $250 for a new tyre for my daughter since she needs to drive to Christchurch tomorrow — a needless expense.
"Because it's like a knife, it's not actually puncture repairable, so everyone's going to literally have to get brand new tyres," she said.
The alleged perpetrator told police she was not angry with her neighbours, but instead "angry at the world".
Another man who lives in the area said "the world is pretty angry at her now".
He was looking at over $1000 worth of new tyres after the woman slashed one of his.
The tyre she had managed to slash was a Japanese imported snow tyre, and all four would need to be replaced as they all had to be uniform.
