Arrest made after witnesses spot man slashing tires in a parking lot

BEDFORD – A man was arrested after Bedford Police officers were summoned to the 2000 block of Industrial Park Drive on Tuesday, because of a report stating a male was slashing tires in a parking lot, according to a probable cause affidavit.

James Banks

When police arrived at 1:04 p.m., they found 22-year-old James Banks standing on the west side of the parking lot. The male caller told police Banks was the male he saw slashing the tires and he wanted to file charges. 

Police then detained Banks.

Banks told police a woman was cheating on him. When asked if he had slashed the tires on the vehicle, he said “they were trying to get away,” and that he had just let the air out of the tires, denying slashing them.

Banks then pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and said “he might need these”. 

The male caller told police the glasses belonged to him and Banks had taken them out of his vehicle.

Another male at the scene told police he witnessed Banks “stick a knife in both tires” and saw Banks get in the vehicle, but didn’t see him take anything.

Police found both front tires slashed and flat on two vehicles – the male caller’s and a female’s vehicles. A wire was also pulled from under the dash of the woman’s vehicle. 

The male caller told police he had taken two sets of keys, a wrench set, and a knife from Banks before police arrived. 

Banks was arrested on charges of theft, criminal mischief, and unlawful entry to a motor vehicle.