Suspect arrested again in serial tire slashings in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Whitney Jones was arrested, but any tire-slashing charges were not confirmed.
- Court records for any potential new charges were unavailable Friday morning.
- Her 2024 case led to incompetency findings; competency was restored in 2025.
A woman has been taken into custody after numerous reports of slashed tires in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood.
Residents began sharing reports on neighborhood Facebook groups in recent days, with several posting photos of damaged tires and doorbell camera footage from around the area of 77th Street to 81st Street, between Brookside Street and Oak Street.
A similar stretch of the Kansas City neighborhood experienced a series of tire-slashing incidents more than two years ago, according to past reporting.
Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Phillip DiMartino confirmed that Whitney Jones was arrested but as of Friday morning, court records reflecting any new charges were not yet available.
Jones was previously charged in a separate case in 2024. She was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, according to a statement provided by Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Jazzlyn Johnson.
The statement said Jones’ competency was later restored in 2025, and she was released to a supervised mental health treatment facility and enrolled in mental health court as part of a conditional release agreement.
Jones participated in the program until she failed to appear in court earlier this year, according to Johnson’s statement. Court records show a warrant for failure to appear was issued on March 17 from the 2024 case and remained active at the time of her arrest. Charges in that case were for one count of property damage and three counts of trespassing.
The probable cause statement from that 2024 case said that Jones had been found inside a home that was being renovated and had broken two windows, a kitchen faucet and there were holes in the drywall.
Between November 2023 and January 2024, Jones had been listed as a suspect or subject in Kansas City Police Department reports, involving trespassing, residential burglary and stealing, according to the probable cause statement.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office had not yet received the new case file and could not comment on the current tire-slashing investigation, according to Johnson’s statement.
“Our office balances accountability and treatment, recognizing that when crimes are tied to serious mental illness, treatment is often the most effective path to protecting the community as a whole long-term,” the statement said. “In cases when defendants do not complete treatment or don’t comply with their release conditions, we hold them accountable.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 10:35 AM.
