Dearborn Heights mayor's cars vandalized on Christmas Eve

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Dearborn Heights Mayor Daniel Paletko was heading out for church on Christmas Eve when he got a rather unpleasant surprise: Every tire on the three cars parked at his house were flat.

The cause was not a Yule curse or misunderstood wish fulfilled by Bizarro Santa; it was a vandal. Or vandals.

Paletko says that, upon inspection, it became clear that the sidewalls of 12 tires had been punctured, disabling his car, his daughter's car and his city car.

Dearborn Heights police were at Paletko's home Wednesday afternoon dusting for fingerprints. Paletko replaced the tires on his daughter's car, while Dearborn Heights replaced the tires on his city car. He still has to pony up the dough to replace the tires on the Ford Escape sitting in his driveway with four flats.

The mayor says he suspects the incident was politically motivated. No one else on his block suffered a similar fate. But the mayor says he doesn't know who is trying to send him a message - or what message they might be trying to send.

Paletko is hopeful the perpetrators will be caught soon. He says cameras on his and his neighbors' homes may have captured the dastardly deed.