Florida woman charged with felony after allegedly vandalizing Tesla with chewing gum

A Florida woman has been charged with a felony after allegedly vandalizing a Tesla with a “large wad” of chewing gum, causing nearly $3,000 in damage.

Yamaris Marrero was charged with felony criminal mischief following the incident, which occurred in the parking lot of Aventura Mall in Miami-Dade County, according to Local 10 News. The damage, amounting to $2,623.66, reportedly affected the car’s door handle mechanism. The act was captured on the electric vehicle’s built-in cameras.

The owner of the Tesla told Local 10 News that he believed he was targeted due to “unfortunately, a divide in our country where certain views that are not accepted by a subset,” referencing Tesla founder Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been eliminating federal spending programs.

A security guard spotted Marrero inside the mall’s food court, leading officers to take her into custody. She admitted to her actions, though her admission was redacted in the publicly released statement.

Initially, Aventura police listed the charge with a hate crime enhancement, but in bond court the “with prejudice” designation was removed, and the felony was downgraded from a second-degree to a third-degree offense. Marrero was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Friday with a $2,500 bond.

The case is part of a broader trend of vandalism against Tesla vehicles and dealerships, as critics of Musk and DOGE take aim at the electric car company. On Saturday, protesters in New York City gathered near a Tesla showroom, blocking a road while chanting, “Elon Musk has got to go.” Demonstrators held signs depicting Teslas on fire, with some calling for the burning of the vehicles to “save democracy.”