Scripps plagued by vehicular vandalism

The impact from a hit-and-run collision was so strong that it pushed a 1970s Chevelle, parked on La Jolla Shores Boulevard, onto the sidewalk. Owner Jeff Sevadjian said the incident occurred between 7:05 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. on November 29. Police cited the car for obstructing traffic and had it towed by noon, hours before Sevadjian left Scripps Neirenberg Hall at 5 p.m. and discovered his car was missing.

From pieces of taillight cover bearing the name “Toyota” he found at the scene and white paint at the impact area, Sevadjian surmises the white Toyota was going fast in reverse when it hit his car. An email to all at Scripps turned up another employee who had seen the Chevelle on the sidewalk and noticed a person across the street taking pictures of damage to the front quarter panel of a black sedan at the same time the Chevrolet was being towed. Sevadjian obtained photos of his car from the towing company.

Anecdotes from others at Scripps show a pattern of hit-and-run damage to cars on this stretch of La Jolla Shores Boulevard, between El Paseo Grande and UC San Diego Coast Apartments, along with break-ins and vandalism. Many UC San Diego and Scripps students and staff park there to avoid hefty parking fees and parking shortages on campus.

In September, a Scripps affiliate noticed five or six instances of broken car window glass on the sidewalk in the area; in October, a Scripps fellow’s car was hit while parked. In 2015, a Scripps employee reported his truck stolen between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. from where it was parked on El Paseo Grande. The same year, a phone and laptop taken from cars in the vicinity were found in a dumpster in Bird Rock, and two more cars were rear-ended near Naga Way in hit-and-run incidents. In 2014 a staff member at Southwest Fisheries saw a Mercedes spin out of control and damage seven cars. Birch Aquarium employees have also experienced multiple instances of theft of personal items from their cars.

In this case Sevadjian filed a police report, but many do not.

The reporter works at Birch Aquarium.