The Ice Pick Bandit, the local legend (not in any positive sense) and very real vandal who's terrorized trucks up and down I-75 with calculated acts so serious some truck drivers call it attempted murder, remains at large -- or at least in hiding, as reports of new attacks have petered out in recent months.
While these baffling incidents sound like trucking horror fiction, they're serious as a heart attack, with police reports and investigations to accompany them. Call a truck tire shop near the Georgia-Florida line and they'll tell you about the bandit. That's why we say local legend -- like bigfoot or the yeti, much talked about but never seen, not Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, for you basketball historians.
The Scooby Doo ending to this saga could reveal all sorts of things -- maybe he's an ex-truck driver with a grudge against his former profession, maybe the bandit worked for a local tire shop and attacked truck tires to drum up business, though with the slow-leaking damage done, there's no way any attacker could reliably predict where the truck would end up for repairs/new tires.
Seeking something a little more concrete and a little less cartoonish, we've reached back to local and federal authorities asking just what can be done about the bandit, and will report back with anything concrete.
Following, a timeline of known Ice Pick Bandit attacks and reports, which started well more than a year ago.
June 2023: Florida Highway Patrol begins the search
Before Overdrive first reported on the bandit, Florida Highway Patrol had already seen half a dozen attacks, prompting them to release the following statement, as well as three still images of a suspect.
"The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) is currently investigating a series of criminal mischief incidents in which multiple semi-tractor trailer tires have been intentionally deflated by an unknown suspect in Columbia County. These incidents have occurred during nighttime hours while semi-tractor trailers are parked overnight at various entrance and exit ramps of Interstate I-75 at the US 90, State Road 47 and US 41/441 exits. In addition, at least one incident also occurred on Interstate 10 in Columbia County. To date there have been six separate incidents where the suspect has used an unknown object to puncture the vehicle and or trailer tires. One victim was able to provide FHP Investigators surveillance images of a potential suspect, described as a young adult white male. The Florida Highway Patrol is requesting that anyone with information about similar incidents or potential suspect(s) contact the Florida Highway Patrol (1-800-387-1290) or their local Crime Stoppers."
September 7, 2023: I-75 SB at exit 144 near Perry, Georgia
This photo from Nu-Way's Mike Leach showed this act of vandalism near Perry, Georgia, which bore a striking similarity to another such incident.Mike Leach
The Ice Pick Bandit struck again shortly thereafter, south across the Florida border in Lake City, this time hitting the brake lines and air bags as well as the tires. Driver Dan Hoot, from small fleet Haulin' Ass-Phalt, described the vandalism as "ingenious" -- and devastating. Ingenious because the tiny holes take a long time to detect, can't be patched on the sidewalls and don't immediately deflate the tire or draw quick attention. The devastating part was the $15,000 it took to fix, not to mention the danger it presented to anyone on the road.
Attacks recorded on both sides of the state lines gave this case potential for federal attention.
Read Hoot's whole account here.
October 2, 2023: I-75 exit 37, Adel, Georgia
Trucker David Lucas was running out of hours that Monday, and pulled off at exit 39 to park. He couldn’t find a spot there, so he kept on and parked on the off-ramp at exit 37. He was running with a Maintainer service truck on his step deck, and the next morning discovered it sitting on the rims -- all six tires were flat. There was also damage to one of the aluminum box doors on the truck he was hauling. The puncture holes in his own equipment -- all 18 tires -- were like Hoot's, so small they'd yet to leak much air.
Price tag for his fleet: $10K-plus.
Read Lucas' account via this link, marking Overdrive's first encounter of the bandit's horrific handiwork.
October 23 and 24, 2023: Two more attacks
Owner-operator Terence Charles said 17 of the 18 tires on his 2006 Kenworth W900 and 2018 Great Dane reefer were punctured in the early morning hours Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Lake Park, Georgia.Terence Charles
Florida Highway Patrol Troop B Public Affairs Officer and Lieutenant P.V. Riordan issued the following statement on Oct. 26:
"We have had two additional incidents -- one on the 23rd and one on the 24th, both in Columbia County on I -10, at the U.S. 41 exit and at the U.S. 441 exit," they wrote. "We do not know if an ice pick is being used -- but it is something similar in nature that pierces the tire with a very small hole."
One of those drivers described the incident here.
[Related: Ice Pick Bandit still attacking trucks]
April 2: I-75, Georgia, at mile marker 78
After almost half a year without making headlines, aside from another incident reported on in February this year, the Ice Pick Bandit struck again, this time hitting an owner-operator hauling for Southern Pride Trucking. That owner "had his trailer lines cut and 11 tires punctured in Sycamore, Georgia," at the southbound I-75 rest area, a representative from the fleet said.
At this point, Overdrive reached out to the FBI and had been in touch with both Georgia and Florida law enforcement. Read more about the attack and what law enforcement said here.
Thankfully, there hasn't been a reported Ice Pick Bandit attack since this one, which took place immediately after April Fool's Day. With October once again around the corner, be careful on I-75, and do your best to avoid parking on off-ramps.
With any luck, law enforcement will be watching and waiting to put an end to the Ice Pick Bandit's horror show.
[Related: Ice Pick Bandit strikes again: Will the feds step in?]
