A serial windshield smasher who seemingly targets parked vehicles at random has residents of a Los Angeles neighborhood frustrated and on edge.
The man’s most recent rampage occurred in Silverlake Jan. 24, but he was also captured on surveillance cameras shattering windshields in the same area in November and, according to resident Mesa Dihl, the vandalism appears indiscriminate.
“As I was walking up, there were two other cars on the street also smashed that night,” he said of the latest incident. “So, I saw those two and was anticipating maybe it would happen to my car and, sure enough, it was all smashed in.”
Footage of the man shows him loitering in the area of Bellevue Avenue and Tularosa Driver around 4 a.m. Jan. 24 when he suddenly walks between two cars, grabs broken chunk of concrete off the curb and hurls at the nearest vehicle’s windshield.
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
Including Dihl’s vehicle, the man left seven residents with destroyed windshields scrambling to borrow a family’s member’s car or being unable to get to work until the costly repairs were made.
“It’s completely random,” Sylvia Prieto, who lives in the neighborhood, told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.
Her sister’s vehicle has been targeted twice by the serial smasher.
“I hope it doesn’t keep happening because it’s an inconvenience, it’s expensive,” she explained.
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
A man seen shattering windshields seemingly at random in Silverlake on Jan. 24, 2026. (viewer image)
One neighbor who spoke to KTLA said the man is often seen on surveillance footage walking north to south in nearby Virgil Village between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and wonders if he might work nearby or is perhaps coming from bars in the area.
Jeff Robinson, who manages one of the apartment buildings in Silverlake, says he can’t figure out the man’s motive for causing so much damage.
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“There was a car on Bellevue that he busted the rear window out of and then there’s a duffle bag and other things in there,” he explained. “He didn’t want to steal. He just wanted to break stuff.”
Robinson thinks the windshield wrecker just wants to see the destruction and, maybe, is working out some kind of anger in the process.
“It’s inconsiderate, it’s thoughtless and there’s no purpose for it,” he said. “It’s just some knucklehead being a knucklehead.”
While residents in the neighborhood are hoping someone recognizes the man, investigators at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division are working the case.
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