WACO, TX — Discount Tire, on 5101 W Waco Dr, reports multiple drivers had tires destroyed with the same damage and it wasn't until a staff member investigated that put a stop to the hazard.
"Okay so this sounds funny but imagine a samurai stabbing your tire," says Kyle Leazar, an assistant manager at Discount Tire.
Talking with his customers, Leazer learned their flat tires weren't the only thing they had in common.
"They were on the exact same road in the exact same spot within a 20 minute period of each other. At that point in my head, it turned into an emergency and I knew as soon as I was leaving work I was going straight over there to figure out what it was," says Leazar.
And that's exactly what Leazar did.
All three of his customers had driven down Valley Mills Dr. near Bosque Blvd when their tires were destroyed.
Come to find out there were, what Leazar says, hundreds of industrial blades scattered throughout Valley Mills Dr.
"As I'm standing along the side of the road it sounded like jingle bells, every car that passed through was hitting those razor blades, on both sides, all the way across five lanes," says Leazar.
That's when he called authorities to the busy road, and they were able to pick up the blades.
Leazar says things like nail or screw damage are common for tires and easy to patch up.
But tires stand no chance against big razors. Leaving his customers to have to buy entirely new tires.
"For a person to get a flat especially as bad as our roads are here in Waco, man I'll tell you what. It can average out somewhere around $150-$200 sometimes," says Marcus Ramos, the senior assistant manager at Discount Tire.
Staff says construction can create hazards, as well as things simply falling out of people's trucks.
But thanks to Leazar he saved a lot of people a lot of possible trouble.
"Kyle has always gone above and beyond to make sure his customers are taken care of like family. Without people like Kyle, at the end of the day he puts our customers first," says Ramos.
"Emergency or not, it's a little bit of a scary situation so I at least wanted to get it handled as quickly as possible," says Leazar.
If you ever find yourself with a flat tire, you are advised to pull over immediately. But if you have a spare or can get a tow, staff at discount tire are ready to help.
