Paint Poured On $500K Peabody Tesla Cars, Saugus Man Charged

PEABODY, MA — A Saugus man is facing a dozen charges in connection with the vandalism of cars worth more than $500,000 at the Peabody Tesla Northshore Mall dealership after police said someone poured paint on the cars on Tuesday morning.

Police said they were called to the Tesla dealership on Andover Street for reports that a man was pouring paint on the cars parked in the lot for sale.

• North Shore Protests Target Peabody Tesla Dealership

Police said there was a brief chase of the man who matched the manager's description of the person accused of the crimes, and that he was taken into custody on Northshore Mall property by Sgt. Jim Harkins and Officer Ryan Sauk.

The combined value of all of the vehicles damaged "is in excess of $500,000," according to police.

Gardy Pierre, 28, of Saugus, is facing 11 counts of defacing property and one count of disturbing the peace.

Pierre also had an outstanding warrant from Cambridge District Court for trespassing/resisting arrest.

He was to be arraigned at Peabody District Court later Tuesday.

The Tesla Showroom in Peabody was one of hundreds targeted for protests across the country last month as about 75 people held signs and chanted their opposition to Tesla owner Elon Musk's influence in the Trump Administration.

There were also protests in the Boston location, as well as in Manhattan, where six were arrested as part of what they called a "Tesla Takedown," according to Vanity Fair. Five of the six arrested in New York City were charged with disorderly conduct, and one was charged with resisting arrest.

A charging station in Littleton was also recently vandalized, with charging stations set on fire.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)