Tesla Sentry mode catches another act of vandalism on camera

A few months after launching, Tesla Sentry mode is already proven to be quite useful and not only to prevent break-ins, but it now catches a bunch of different incidents on video.

In the latest example, Sentry mode filmed two men keying a Model 3.

Building on its previously released dashcam feature, Tesla enabled the use of more cameras around the vehicle and activated a “stand-by” parking mode.

The feature became Sentry Mode, which also includes an alarm and notification system to deter thieves even more — efficiently creating a system to watch over Tesla vehicles when their owners are not around.

It was first developed to address a growing problem with break-ins that Tesla owners were dealing with especially in California, but it is now proving useful in other situations.

A Tesla Model 3 owner in Sacramento captured two individuals in a truck severely keying and denting a Model 3:

While Tesla’s Sentry Mode got a good video of the incident, it didn’t catch the license plate of the truck and the owner is trying to identify the vandals.

In California, keying a car is considered a misdemeanor act of vandalism and depending on the value of the damages, it can be a costly thing (via Christopher Martens):

If the damage of the vandalism is under $400, you could face up to one year in a county jail or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. The fine rises to up to $5,000 if it is your second conviction.

If the damage of the vandalism is over $400, you could face up to one year in a county jail or a fine of up to $10,000 ($50,000 if the damage was more than $10,000) or by both.

Last month, a woman was reportedly arrested for keying a Tesla after the incident was captured with Sentry mode.

We recently reported on Tesla Sentry Mode capturing crazier and crazier things.

Electrek’s Take

Look at these Merica-t-shirt wearing patriots. Without truly knowing their intentions, it’s impossible to say exactly why they ended up doing it, but it does smell of the anti-Tesla sentiment that we have seen from pickup truck owners before.

It’s crazy because Tesla’s vehicles are some of the most American cars made in the US these days. For some reason, many people still think they are foreign cars – not that it would be an excuse to vandalize a vehicle.

Not only that, but a Tesla, or any EV, runs on local energy. Electricity for an EV is generated nearby, whereas gas cars often fuel themselves with foreign oil.

In this case, it looks like the truck driver thinks the Model 3 slammed his door into the truck, but it clearly didn’t happen just by looking how far ahead the Model 3 is parked.

Also, the truck driver didn’t seem to worry too much about damaging his car if he slammed his own door into the Model 3.

Either way, that’s not how you should react if you think that someone damaged your car and I am glad that Sentry mode was able to capture it.

The damage on such a long scratch can be quite expensive.

At the very least, if these incidents keep getting publicized, idiots who would ever think of doing that in the first place should at least think twice about it knowing that they might be recorded.