This is the shocking moment a motorist was caught keying a £50,000 Tesla by the expensive vehicle’s onboard cameras in the first prosecution of its kind in Britain.
Anna Valente, aged 57, found the electric vehicle had been parked very close to hers, outside of a Shop in Poole.
She may have deliberately placed her Nissan Juke in the space next to her car to prevent someone from parking there, as her dog was still inside the vehicle.
With her back to the £50,000 Tesla, Valente very slyly used her own car key to slash the other vehicle’s passenger side door, causing over £1,000 damage.
Only the Tesla’s wife saw it after he drove it home.
He looked over the footage from the car’s hard drive and saw that its four cameras had caught Valente doing the defamatory act.
A camera placed at the front of her vehicle filmed her moving clearly from the shop to the vehicles. The one mounted on her right side indicator captured her opening the Tesla Model 3 door.
Importantly, Valente’s car registration was picked up by the camera at the back. This allowed police to track her down and to charge her for criminal damage. She pleaded guilty.
The first case in Britain in which the Tesla sensor cameras have been used to support a case is being investigated.
Anna Valente, 57, was upset to find the £50,000 Tesla Model 3 had tightly-parked close to hers outside a shop in a retail park in Poole, Dorset
She appeared to be putting her shopping aside with one hand and using the other to hold the key (pictured above), which she scribbled onto the Tesla’s side.
Tesla owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, works as an air traffic controller. Tesla is currently in his 50s.
His wife, 50 years old, had driven him the car to Poole in Dorset at the time of his June 20th offence.
Valente’s black Nissan Juke pulled alongside her. It was parked above the white bay lines.
Valente, who was walking toward her car from the Homesense store, was captured on video leaving that location minutes later. She stopped between them.
She is seen putting her shopping away, before placing her right on the Tesla’s passenger door. Her left hand grips the key that she uses to scratch its paintwork.
Valente walks her hand across the front of the vehicle, then turns the ignition off and returns to the driver’s side.
After his wife had driven it home, the Tesla owner only noticed that 4ins scratch.
Side camera of Tesla (pictured) captured the whole infraction. This is thought to be Britain’s first prosecution.
According to the owner, “When my wife returned home from work and parked her car in the driveway, I noticed a scratch on the passenger side door. And then I asked her what she had done.
‘She had no idea. The hard drive was taken out of Tesla’s Tesla. I plugged it in to a computer, and all video files were downloaded.
“When I found the evidence, it made me feel a lot like Sherlock Holmes.”
“I was amazed and stunned when I first saw it. Miss Valente was very confident about the manner she performed it.
“My wife was angry that anyone could do such a thing to us, but I was thankful that I was able to catch the person.
“Neither my spouse nor I are acquainted with Miss Valente. We have never had any contact so I am unsure why she would do it.
“All I can recall is her parking her car on the white line. She also had her dog, so maybe there wasn’t someone next to her.
This is the first British prosecution wherein the Tesla’s sensory cameras were used in evidence.
The Nissan Juke of Ms Valente was evidently parked in front of the white lines that were adjacent to the parking lot
He explained that the Tesla has four cameras with dual purposes. If self-driving is allowed, they will be sensory cameras. One camera can also serve security purposes.
“I believe this is the first instance in Britain where images taken from Tesla have been used for criminal prosecutions.
“Police said that it was almost impossible for people to scratch their cars. Car park cameras can be too far away. Tesla’s system is amazing.
“I had no idea the car was equipped with something like that, but it seemed amazing.”
The sequence of events was explained by he adding: “My wife arrived at car park, and she reverse parked next to a Nissan Juke. This footage clearly shows that the Nissan had been parked on top of the white line. I believe this was to discourage anyone from parking next to it.
The forward-facing camera on the windscreen shows Miss Valente leaving Homesense and moving across the parking lot towards her car parked next to us.
“She marches between the vehicles and then rests her right arm on the passenger doors. Then, her key will appear from her left side and she’ll make contact with Tesla’s paintwork.
She runs the key along the door’s paintwork. It’s clear exactly what has occurred. After that, she returns to the driver’s compartment of her vehicle and drives off.
“The camera at the wing mirror recorded her stuffing things in the passenger compartment of her car, before she keyed it.”
Dorset Police spokesmen said that the vehicle in question had an onboard CCTV system, providing clear images of exceptional quality to capture the suspect causing harm.
“The footage identified the defendant and she was brought to court for the consequences of her actions.”
Valente, from Bournemouth, was given a six month conditional discharge by magistrates in Poole and ordered to pay £1,078.83 compensation, a £22 surcharge and £85 court costs.