Key West man who went on a tire-slashing spree in Old Town

A Key West man who went on a tire-slashing spree in Old Town has been sent to Florida State Prison for two years.

 

Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones handed down the sentence to Ronald Wadford, 75, on April 4. Wadford had pleaded no contest to 11 felony counts of criminal mischief in May 2014 and was placed on 60 months of probation. Assistant State Attorney Christine Poist represented the state.

 

But Wadford violated several terms of probation, so Judge Jones revoked his probation. Those violations included getting arrested for making harassing phone calls, not paying restitution to the victims, not pay court-ordered costs for things such as supervision and various fees related to his case, not reporting to his probation officer as scheduled and moving from his residence without permission.

 

Wadford’s tire-slashing case stems from November 8, 2013. That day, Key West police received numerous reports from people about their auto tires being slashed in the area of Whitehead Street and Truman Avenue. Overall, 11 victims had a combined 14 tires slashed overnight. The combined monetary damage was estimated at about $2,500.

 

Video of the suspect was obtained and police identified him as Wadford. Four days later, police found him at the Key West library on Fleming Street and he was wearing the same shorts and shoes as the person seen in the video slashing the tires. He also had a military can opener “which could easily slash a tire.”

 

Wadford has a lengthy Monroe County arrest history and has served two previous stints in Florida State Prison, one for aggravated assault and one on a cocaine charge.

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