Wheel lug nut loosening warning

St. Thomas Police are warning residents to beware of a trend where the lug nuts on a vehicle wheel are loosened or removed, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Participants were reportedly filming their “pranks” and posting them to a social media site.

Most recently, police reported that a front passenger side wheel flew off a vehicle northbound on Highway Avenue near Ron McNeil Lin on Monday, Dec. 13, about 7:30 a.m.

The driver was able to get the vehicle safely onto the shoulder of the road before telephoning police. He reported the vehicle had been parked at times in St. Thomas and London the previous day.

Police were not yet certain the lug nuts had been deliberately loosened, but were asking drivers to check tires for tampering.

In an incident Thursday, Nov. 30, a St. Thomas man was pulling into the parking lot at his workplace when the rear passenger-side tire of his car fell off.

The lug nuts had been removed, but where that had happened was uncertain, police stated. The vehicle had been parked for a short time in a large shopping plaza at 1063 Talbot Street the previous night.