COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three vehicles parked outside a Columbus school were reportedly broken into and vandalized Tuesday afternoon. This comes just a day after nearly a dozen cars were broken into outside The Mall at Tuttle Crossing and another was stolen at the Columbus Zoo.
A spokesperson for Columbus City Schools said that three vehicles were vandalized Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of Columbus Downtown High School. The windows of the cars were reportedly broken.
It’s unclear if any arrests have been made out of the vandalism.
In a similar incident on Monday, officers were called to the Tuttle Mall for a report of multiple car break-ins. They were told that there was a group of people trying to break into the vehicles and one of them may have had a gun.
Police began following a stolen silver Audi suspected in the reported break-ins. The stolen vehicle flipped over at North 4th and East Long streets in downtown Columbus, police said.
A witness told police that they saw three people flee on foot. One suspect was detained.
Another car was stolen from the parking lot of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Monday.
The zoo said a white Hyundai Elantra was stolen from the parking lot around 3 p.m. A witness sitting in their vehicle at the time of the reported theft saw four masked people running along a row of parked cars, pulling on doors to see if they were unlocked.
According to a release from the zoo, the witness believed they saw a weapon at one of the suspect’s waistbands. The witness moved their car to another area while honking their horn to alert other guests and then called 911.
A deputy was told that the masked people left in a white sedan and a black sedan.
The incident remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. More information will be added as it is made available.