Man arrested, accused of slashing 83 tires in Grand Forks

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) - The man wanted for slashing dozens of people’s tires in Grand Forks has been arrested. Matthew Vincent Morris is in custody and made his initial appearance in court Tuesday. He’s scheduled to be in court again on November 20th.

Morris is facing one Felony charge of Criminal mischief-Willful-Damage-Intentional more than $10,000 after 45 people had their tires slashed on October 1st. Grand Forks Police were called to a home near Memorial Park North Cemetery just before midnight when a man told them his son’s tires had been slashed. Investigators quickly learned, he was far from the only one.

During that time, investigators spoke with Matthew Morris who told them he was on his way home and hadn’t seen anything. However, police say he was wearing a gray sweatshirt, a dark-colored hat with a tan logo, black shorts and black sandals. A lot like the surveillance photo police would later share.

That same night, after his run in with police, Morris gave them a call. He changed his story and offered up a description of a suspect.

Throughout the week, officers gathered video footage from the area. Police say Morris was seen in a driveway, crouching down by the back tire of a vehicle and then a hissing sound is heard, similar to the deflating of a tire.

Police say he’s seen on camera doing this at least three more times.

This led officers to search his home and phone. They found a gray sweatshirt in the trash and a knife, believed to have been used to deflate the tires, stuffed underneath his mattress.

On his phone, investigators say the “Health App” shows Morris traveled more than a mile between 11 p.m. and midnight in the area where the tires were slashed on the same night.

Police say so far there are 45 victims in the case, 50 vehicles and 83 tires, totaling more than $17,000 in damage. Police expect damage estimates to climb as victims incurred towing and Uber fees, as well as loss of work.

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