FSU employees', football players' cars damaged, campus police investigating

Several Florida State University employees and football players returned from the Rose Bowl Friday to find their tires had been slashed and their cars had been keyed.

The FSU Police Department received a report of two vehicles with slashed tires outside of the Moore-Athletic Center around 9:20 p.m., just after the football team arrived home from Pasadena, Calif.

FSUPD Spokesman Maj. Jim Russell said two reports had been filed about the slashed tires, which belonged to employees, and there were reports football players' cars had been keyed, but they had not yet filed a police report.

Russell said it was not clear if the incidents were related to FSU's 59-20 loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl. It is also not clear at this time which employees or players were subject to the vandalism.

"The officers investigating at the time could not determine a time frame of when the vehicles were damaged," Russell wrote in an email, "so we don't know of the damage happened before or after the bowl game."

FSU linebacker Anthony Valdes Tweeted about the incidents last night.

"People actually keyed our cars and slashed our tires," Valdes wrote around 9:12 p.m. "(Shake my head) go 29-0 but lose one game and people don't know how to act."

Valdes did later express gratitude to the huge support from the fan base.

"Shout out to all the true respectful fans love Yall," he wrote.

Russell wrote in an email that the investigation is ongoing and more details would be available at a later time. He said there were external video cameras at the Moore Athletic Center, but was unsure if they covered the areas where the cars were parked during the incident.

Determining that and reviewing tapes will be a likely first step for investigators, Russell said.

There are "Many more questions than answers at this point," he wrote.