Prankster warned for serious offense on smart car vandalism

Smart cars are very popular to commuters because of it's superior gas mileage and cute look that weighs about 725 kilograms. What gains attention to their business is the vehicle's unique look, that makes customers shell out a loaded model for up to $20,000. Evidently, that attention also brought the vehicle as the main target for shocking pranks vandals.

Media reports swarmed the internet of photos and videos of people using brute strength and long poles to tip the small smart cars. Windows, exterior mirrors and panelling of the cars were damaged, amused bystanders posed with the flipped car and snapped photos with their cellphone cameras. Outraged owners have vented their anger on blogs. One Alberta owner of a so-called "Smartie" was so furious, that he posted photos on the Internet and offered a reward of $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Ken Lust, sales manager of Smart car at David Morris Fine Cars, who also was a victim of a bad car prank three years ago, says goofing around with it isn't a harmless prank but rather a brazen act of property damage. The sales manager spent several hundred dollars repairing smashed windows and a bent gas cap. No one was ever arrested. Lust believes it was the work of several fellows who probably had too much to drink that night.

Some may think tipping over cars and shattered glass car pranks idea are harmless fun, but under the Criminal Code of Canada, mischief is a potentially serious offense, said Sanjeev Anand, a law professor at the University of Alberta. A conviction carries a variety of potential punishments, including a maximum sentence of between two and 10 years in jail, although such sentences are rare, the law professor said.

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