To Lay Waste
To Mess Up
transitive verb, godan verb
荒れる is "to be stormy" or "to be rough." 荒らす is when you do the stormy rough things. You go wild on everyone, trying to lay waste and to mess up everything around you.
荒らす is all about creating a mess. It can be physical destruction, like a wild pig tearing up a garden or a robber ransacking and messing up a house. Or it can refer to disrupting a peaceful situation, such as trolling an online forum or chat.
The reading comes from 荒れる.
昨夜車上荒らしにあって、マックを盗まれました。
My car was broken into last night and my mac was stolen.