A man cuts the brakes on more than 100 electric scooters in Florida
A man faces a trial for vandalism after tampering with the brakes of more than 100 electric scooters. He wrecked dozens of scooters from the shared mobility company Lime.
A 59-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident was arrested and charged with vandalism. The police caught him handling Lime's electric scooters. A total of 20 scooters were later discovered in the nearby area with cut off brakes, and the suspect has been linked to dozens more.
There was a wave of scooter vandalism in Fort Lauderdale and police reported that more than 140 vehicles have been damaged since April 2019. Most of the incidents occurred near East Broward Boulevard, which is near Williams' residence.
Williams offered no reason for the vandalism according to the SunSentinel. Usually, he would go out before dawn with a single glove, wire cutters and pliers, in search of the popular but controversial electric scooters according to local police.
140 scooters with cut brakes
Police notified Lime and other scooter operators of the damaged devices. They say that companies are proactively removing scooters from service to avoid injury to passengers. Police are not sure if anyone was injured while riding the damaged scooters.
Last year, Fort Lauderdale granted one-year permits to Lime, Bolt, and Bird. Those permits expire next month, at which point the city plans to discuss the impact scooters have had on transportation patterns and quality of life. In Spain, cities like Madrid are already beginning to regulate them when privately owned , but rentals remain problematic.
Vandalism and depreciation are affecting the scooter business. Companies are struggling to release stronger and more durable scooters to improve their money-losing business. Encouraged by social media and a growing aversion to these services, many people have thrown them out onto the streets, removed them from parking lots, or even doused them with flammable liquid and set them on fire.
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