York Regional Police have laid charges in an apparent case of serial spewing in Markham.

A man in his early 40s was charged with three counts of mischief to property. He was arrested in Markham Friday at 5:15 p.m.

A manager at Frankie Tomatto’s, an Italian all-you-can-eat restaurant on Woodbine Avenue in Markham, had phoned police, most recently Friday morning. The restaurant had reported to police that over the past year, employees’ cars were covered with an oily liquid at lunch time between noon and 2 p.m. in the back parking lot.

A customer had also complained of similar treatment to his car.

In fact, police were told of 30 incidents of this happening in the same parking lot behind the restaurant over the past four years.

It appears that the man had been eating and drinking at the restaurant then purposely vomiting on vehicles, said Sgt. Scott Hunter of York Regional Police.

“The moral of the story is make sure you have a good surveillance system,” Sgt. Hunter said Saturday.

So many times, we are called to reported thefts or mischief to property and there is no video surveillance or the video is not working or is low grade, he said. When the incidents got to be too much, the restaurant upgraded its video system and the police “solved it just like that,” Sgt. Hunter said.

Police have not released the man’s name but say he is from Oshawa and is employed in the area of the restaurant.