If Caught, San Francisco Vandals Who Tip Smart Cars Will Face Felony Charges

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Shelley Gallivan, right, talks on the phone next to a tipped over Smart car which belongs to her friend on the corner of Prospect and Oso streets in San Francisco, Monday, April 7, 2014.

Image: Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

By Alex Magdaleno2014-04-07 23:44:41 UTC

Your compact, relatively lightweight Smart Car may not be safe in San Francisco.

Four San Franciscans woke up Monday morning to see their Smart cars tipped over in different neighborhoods across the city. San Francisco police are currently investigating the reported "car flippings."

See also: With BMW's First Electric Car, No More 'Text Me When You Get There'

San Francisco police officer Gordon Shyy told a local NBC affiliate that the suspects will face felony vandalism charges if they are caught. The cars' windows were shattered and they suffered body damage. The vehicles were flipped back onto their correct sides and towed away.

Brandon Michael, an eyewitness who was outside smoking in one of the neighborhoods at around 1 a.m. PT, saw eight people in hooded sweaters flip a car.

"I thought they looked like they were up to no good and then sure enough they walk up to this Smart Car right here, all huddle around it and just lift it up and set it on its hind legs, like a dog on its hind legs, — that's pretty much it," Michael told local news station, KGO-TV.

Whether the car flippings were part of a coordinated prank or possibly part of the growing animosity toward Silicon Valley tech workers and the protests surrounding the tech buses in San Francisco remains to be seen. Though, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's blog, Smart car vandalism has a lengthy history as a prank trend.

Because the Smart car only weighs around 1,500 pounds, it's been a target for flipping since 2005 in Canada, as well as in Amsterdam where vandals tipped Smart cars into the canals.

The video below shows a group of people flip a Smart car during the Vancouver riots in 2011:

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Topics: police, San Francisco-San Jose, Smart Car, smart cars, U.S., US & World, vandalism