On Guard
Tesla has no shortage of haters, and we all know haters gonna hate — but at least one Tesla hater might have to pay for their harbored hostility.
On Friday, Tesla diehard Rafael Santoni posted a video to his YouTube channel featuring footage of a woman apparently dragging her key across his friend’s Model 3 — and because the car had Tesla’s new Sentry Mode feature enable, she’s now reportedly facing vandalism charges for the incident.
Sound the Alarm
Following an increase in vehicle break-ins, Tesla introduced a Sentry Mode for its vehicles in February.
When enabled, the system uses the vehicle’s external cameras to keep an eye out for potential threats, such as a person leaning on the car. Once Sentry Mode detects a potential threat, the cameras begin recording.
If the threat escalates to break-in level, the vehicle sounds an alarm and begins blasting music — specifically Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, by CEO Elon Musk’s directive.
Pay the Price
According to Teslarati, a third-party body shop told the Tesla owner the damage caused by the incident would cost $900 to repair, but no word on whether the alleged vandal will be forced to pay those costs.
Her motivation behind the attack isn’t clear, either. The Model 3 owner said he didn’t recognize her, so this might just be one more example of someone taking their issues with Tesla out on the company’s customers.
