VIDEO: Suspects spray acid-type substance on 91 cars at Fontana dealership

Rob McMillan Image
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
VIDEO: Suspects spray acid-type substance on 91 cars at IE dealership
Dozens of cars at an auto dealership were sprayed with some sort of acid, and investigators are hoping surveillance video will help them catch the suspects.

FONTANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Dozens of cars at an auto dealership were sprayed with some sort of acid, and investigators are hoping surveillance video will help them catch the suspects.

The caught-on-camera crime involves at least two vandalism suspects seen slithering through the parking lot of the Pacific Auto Center in Fontana Monday night.

The suspects, dressed in jumpsuits and wearing plastic gloves and goggles, sprayed some kind of acid on approximately 91 cars.

The perpetrators were on the lot for only about 15 minutes, but the next day it was easy to see the extent of the damage.

What was once shiny, clear-coat paint is now chipping away.

"It's just devastating," said Julio Ortiz, general sales manager of Pacific Auto Center. "First off, that someone would do something like this, but the type of chemical that they used, it's dangerous stuff."

Ortiz said some of the higher-end vehicles could have sold for close to six figures, but not anymore.

"We're going to have to fix the bodywork, repaint them. Some of these vehicles, basically, have to be sold at auction, or completely devalued in what their asking price was," Ortiz added.

Employees think the suspects are a man and a woman.

"It looked like this was well thought out. It seemed as if they were walking with some sense of confidence, knowing what they were doing," Ortiz said.

Fontana police are investigating. If you know who these two are, you're asked to call detectives.