It didn't take long for police to arrest a man for allegedly slashing the tires on more than 20 vehicles in downtown Nanaimo. 

The incidents happened early Monday morning, Nov. 11, when police discovered 20 vehicles had tires slashed in a parking lot in the 200 block of Franklyn Street and shortly afterward found three more vehicles with slashed tires in the 300 block of Selby Street. 

According to a Nanaimo RCMP press release, surveillance cameras from the parking lot recorded footage earlier that morning of a man who parked his car, got out and walked from vehicle to vehicle slashing tires, then drove away.

Shortly after viewing the video, the investigating officer saw a car identical to the vehicle in the footage parked near the crime scene. The officer identified the car's registered owner and address, which led to police going to the residence and identifying the car's owner as the person seen in the surveillance video. He was arrested without incident, the release noted, and later released from custody to appear in court at a future date. 

The investigation is ongoing and criminal charges against the accused are forthcoming, say police.

Anyone with video, dash cam footage or home surveillance footage in the 200 block of Frankly Street between midnight and 1 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP detachment non-emergency at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2024-36980.