Hours-long vandalism of car in Koreatown caught on camera

KOREATOWN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A woman was caught on camera vandalizing a parked vehicle in Koreatown for hours, using a metal stick to carve random words and letters into the paint for no apparent reason.

And now the distraught owner of the vehicle is left with no way to fix the damage because she recently lost her job, not long after paying an unrelated $500 repair bill for the car.

Surveillance footage shows the vandalism beginning around 3 a.m. The woman sits on the hood of the car and uses what police describe as a metal stick to carve letters into the black paint. She later gets on the roof and starts jumping, then sits down and continues carving into the paint.

The owner of the car, Stacy Omelianoff, said she left it parked at a friend's house on Thanksgiving and police notified her about the vandalism the next morning.

"I just fell out in tears," she said. "The way it looks - it looks like somebody would do this to someone you know. I don't know her. I've never seen her."

Police were called around 8 a.m. and the woman was taken into custody. The Los Angeles Police Department says the woman was possibly suffering from mental illness and was placed on a 72-hour hold for evaluation.

Now Omelianoff is left trying to figure out what to do. Her insurance is just for liability and won't cover the damage.

She also lost her job as a caregiver because the woman she was caring for is now moving to a convalescent center. She also recently paid more than $500 for repairs to the car prior to the new damage.

"Now I'm out of a job also. I'm just praying that hopefully something comes out of this good for me."

She said she doesn't have the money to have the car repaired or even towed from the spot, where it has already been ticketed.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help her out.