Nearly 50 Rental Scooters Vandalized In St. Paul

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- St. Paul police are investigating after nearly 50 rental scooters were found smashed to the ground, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

A representative from the electric scooter company Spin says 49 were found damaged throughout last week in St. Paul's downtown area. The estimated cost to repair each one is about $1,200.

The Spin representative said it's common to have one or two scooters damaged each week, but the way in which these scooters were damaged is not consistent with what is typically seen.

Police spokesman Steve Linders said the rental scooters have bent handlebars, frame and sensor damage and in some cases, the brake lines were cut. He said the Spin representative indicated to police that he believes the damage was intentional.

In a statement, the Spin spokesman said, "Our operations are running as usual in St. Paul. We are deploying new scooters to service demand, and implementing necessary handlebar fixes to the rest of the fleet that was impacted. We will continue to train our operations team to remain vigilant of vandalism -- and will work with the community to prevent such acts from happening in the first place."

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)