Police release photo in SUV tire deflation investigation

Waterloo regional police have released a photo of someone they say investigators want to “identify and speak with” as part of their investigation into the deflation of dozens of SUV tires in Kitchener earlier this month.

Police say they received over 30 reports of SUVs having their tires deflated in Kitchener’s Rockway area on Sept. 7. The incidents are believed to have occurred overnight the night before.

A self-described environmental activist group, “Tyre Extinguishers,” claimed responsibility for the action, along with two similar incidents earlier this summer that saw the tires of more than 75 SUVs in Waterloo region flattened.

Police previously said the tires were deflated using a device that made them slowly leak overnight.

The suspects left notes on the vehicles’ windshields stating: ‘Your gas guzzler kills.’

In an email to CTV News in July, the Tyre Extinguishers said their goal is to ban SUVs from urban areas and called the vehicles “climate disasters.”

“We’re taking this action because governments and politicians have failed to protect us from these huge vehicles. Everyone hates them, apart from the people who drive them,” the email said in part. “We want to live in towns and cities with clean air and safe streets. Politely asking and protesting for these things has failed. It’s time for action.”

Police are asking residents in the Rockway area to check the video from their security or doorbell cameras for suspicious activity in the early morning hours of Sept. 7.

An online evidence portal has been set up to submit footage.