NORTHAMPTON — A Worcester County man currently jailed for disabling and damaging women’s parked vehicles, allegedly to satisfy his “car cranking fetish,” will serve three years of probation after admitting to similar charges brought by Hampshire County prosecutors.
Alexander Yee, 38, of Winchendon, pleaded guilty to four charges of malicious damage to a motor vehicle before Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey on Aug. 30, according to a Wednesday statement from the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Yee was sentenced this summer to 2½ years in jail for similar acts in Milford that he committed while on bail, with one year to serve in custody and the balance suspended for three years. His probation will begin immediately, prosecutors said, meaning that he will be on probation through Hampshire Superior Court for the remainder of his incarceration and serve the balance after he is released.
“This disturbing behavior went on despite Yee knowing that all eyes were on him,” Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Erin Aiello said in a statement. “The resolution of this case gives Yee the opportunity to address whatever issues compelled him to engage in this conduct. If he squanders that opportunity, the Commonwealth will likely seek his incarceration to protect the public.”
Aiello worked out an agreement with defense attorney Alfred Chamberland that requires Yee to submit to GPS monitoring, stay away from the victims, undergo a mental health evaluation and receive follow-up care.
If he violates the terms of his probation, he could be sent to state prison. Aiello said the sentence provides an opportunity for Yee to receive help and face accountability.
Yee admitted to Southampton police in November 2021 that he damaged a young woman’s pickup truck by pouring water in the gas tank while it was parked outside the Big Y Supermarket on College Highway, according to court records. A passer-by confronted him and called police, who interviewed Yee the next day at his home in Winchendon.
He told investigators that he had a lifelong impulse problem that had become a “car cranking fetish” in the previous few years. Although he denied that the fetish was sexual in nature, an officer wrote in a police report that Yee went on to describe “how female drivers attract him to the ‘fetish part.’”
“Car cranking” can refer to the sound of a damaged vehicle engine struggling to turn over. According to court records, Yee told police that disabling the car “does nothing. The cranking part turns me on kinda.”
In addition to malicious damage, he was charged with breaking and entering a motor vehicle and released on $10,000 bail on Nov. 18, 2021. Investigators said he was suspected of other incidents in Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester counties, as well as in southern New Hampshire.
While wearing a court-ordered GPS monitoring bracelet, Yee allegedly continued his spree in the eastern part of the state. Police in Milford said that in addition to pouring substances in women’s gas tanks, he flattened some of their tires and offered to give some of them rides or other assistance.
Incidents tied to Yee were also reported in Bellingham, Franklin, Holliston and Medway, according to the towns’ respective police departments.