Max Sebastian Solomon, 25, of Irvine, was taken into custody on July 29, for allegedly vandalizing 13 Teslas.
Irvine police arrested a man wanted for allegedly spray-painting 13 Teslas in Orange County parking garages, with the investigation beginning July 20 when the department asked for help locating the suspect who was seen vandalizing several Teslas in a parking garage at Michelson Drive and Carlson Avenue.
Last week, Irvine police shared video of a suspect spray-painting a Tesla in a shopping center parking garage near Michelson Drive and Carlson Avenue on July 17 at about 10:30 p.m., with three other Teslas also found vandalized in the same parking garage.
According to the Irvine Police Department, surveillance video from around 10:30 p.m. showed a man inside a parking garage shaking a can of spray paint, pulling his shirt over his mouth, and marking a Tesla in red paint with the word “Nazi.”
That night alone, four Teslas were damaged, and less than a week later, a similar incident happened at a different parking garage in the same plaza, where nine more Teslas were vandalized with the words “Nazi” and “Fascist.”
Irvine PD noted early on that they believed the same man was behind both incidents based on matching shoes and a tattoo near his right elbow.
After receiving tips from the public following the two social media posts, which contained security camera videos from the Teslas, police were able to work on identifying the suspect.
The breakthrough came from an unlikely source.
The arrest came after a police officer who filed a report about a previous incident involving a person who allegedly spit on a Tesla remembered that the suspect was carrying a takeout bag from a restaurant, with Kyle Oldoerp, an Irvine police spokesman, telling ABC7: “He was crossing the roadway, a Tesla was at the limit line, he spit at that vehicle, and in that case, he was carrying a takeout bag.”
The officer went to the restaurant and tracked down the suspect’s name, authorities said.
Detectives identified the suspect through a takeout order the man was carrying during the spitting incident, with the identification leading to 25-year-old Irvine resident Max Sebastian Solomon.
What was Solomon’s motive?
Oldoerp said “My understanding is, he just does not like Tesla” and “So, he has personal beliefs or feelings towards that company and took that aggression out by committing this vandalism.”
Victims of the incidents told CBS LA that they believed they were “caught in the crossfire” of a bigger issue, and that the suspect possibly had some sort of political gripe with Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO.
One victim described discovering the damage to his vehicle.
“Someone had written on it in big red letters so I looked around to make sure that the person wasn’t still there and then dialed 911 to get a report filed,” one victim said.
The victim faced an unexpected challenge afterward.
Police said four Teslas were damaged that night, including the victim’s vehicle, and the victim asked “My first thought was like hey is this directed at me personally?”
In the viral moment that captured public attention, surveillance video released by Irvine police on July 20 showed a man methodically spray-painting parked Teslas with political messages in red paint over the course of a week. The videos revealed the suspect pulling his shirt over his mouth before vandalizing each vehicle, moving deliberately through the parking garage near the LA Fitness facility on Michelson Drive. Four vehicles fell victim on the initial night of July 17, then the suspect returned with apparent premeditation and struck nine more Teslas days later at a different garage in the same shopping plaza. The deliberate pattern over multiple visits, combined with the incendiary language chosen—Nazi and Fascist—suggested ideological motivation rather than random destruction.
On Tuesday, officers arrested 25-year-old Max Sebastian Solomon of Irvine at his apartment, located across the street from where the vandalism incidents occurred, according to the Irvine Police Department.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail for felony vandalism.
Irvine police Officer Ziggy Azarcon told NBC Los Angeles: “So far, on the damage that we’re seeing is red spray paint across each of these Teslas, all with different kinds of messaging, but majority of them are all offensive language.”
Police continue monitoring the area.
Azarcon said the department upped its patrols in the area after the incidents.
Solomon remains booked at Orange County Jail pending arraignment.