Nassau County police say that vandals punctured at least 20 car tires in a Westbury neighborhood.
They say the incidents occurred sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday.
"It's an easy, quick crime as far as puncturing a vehicle's tire and keep moving," says Deputy Inspector Gary Shapiro, of the Nassau County Police Department. "And it's our job now to find out why."
Shapiro says there doesn't appear to be a pattern in the way the vandals struck.
The Rivas family says two of their cars had flat tires on Barrington Street.
Police are still working on a profile for the suspect, but residents have their own suspicions about who was behind the incidents.
"Someone was trying to make a statement or something like that," says resident Tyler Owens. "I wonder if it was gang-related because you do have MS-13 out here."