Grafton man accused of dumping nails onto roads, causing damage
GRAFTON, Wis. - A 27-year-old Grafton man is accused of dumping nails onto roadways, causing damage to dozens of vehicles from May through December 2020.
The accused is Theodore Drazovic -- and he faces one count of felony criminal damage to property.
According to a criminal complaint, since late spring of 2020, an unknown person has been placing nails and screws at various intersections within Ozaukee County. The complaint notes 20 separate reports of nails being found on roadways in Mequon.
Separately, Grafton police noted "48 reports of criminal damage to property, from citizens, involving tires that were either damaged or replaced totaling $7,217.78 worth of damage. Several more went unreported."
"Back in May 2020 we began experiencing these large quantities of roofing nails being dumped on our major roadways in our village," said Grafton Police Sgt. Patrick Brock. "Hundreds if not thousands of nails were found all over the roadways, off-ramps, other jurisdictions had the same problem in Ozaukee County."
Road in the Village of Grafton
The complaint says many of the victims that reported damage to their vehicle tires could not identify specifically where the damage occurred. However, they noted they traveled on roadways where several nails and screws were found in the roadways by the Grafton Police Department.
The complaint goes on to say that on Dec, 28, Grafton police received "a report from an employee at the Grafton Ace Hardware saying Theodore Drazovic had purchased two boxes of nails." At the same time, another officer was collecting nails from the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and Ravine Drive. The nails "appeared new and unused."
A short time later, a Grafton officer located Drazovic's vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. The complaint says "Drazovic was in possession of an empty box of two and a half silver roofing nails." When initially questioned about the nail incidents, he "denied being involved."
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Investigators say they secured surveillance video showing Drazovic purchasing roofing nails from the Mequon Ace Hardware.
On Feb. 5, 2021, a detective met with Drazovic, the complaint says. At that time, Drazovic "admitted that he was the source of these nail incidents. Drazovic stated that it was not his intent to damage other people's cars, but rather he believed that people were following him and that he would throw these nails out of his car when he felt threatened by them."
Drazovic made his initial appearance in Ozaukee County court on Monday, Feb. 8. Cash bond was set at $2,500. He is due back in court on March 8.
Midas in Grafton
Meanwhile, the Midas in Grafton has helped some flat tire victims get back on the road.
"I'm very familiar with the whole problem," said Jim Glader of the Grafton Midas. "We, as a shop, decided to do free tire repairs in Ozaukee County for anybody that had been hit by this person."
The shop did the work free of charge for dozens of people. Glaser said the number of repairs went from a standard 2-4 per month, up to 50-60. They estimate it cost roughly $10,000.
Tire replacement at Midas in Grafton
It's a small price to pay, Glaser said, for doing the right thing.
"It was the worst timing in the world for someone to hurt other people," Glaser said. "So we just decided we were going to take care of people."
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