Monday, July 11, 2011

Leland BB Bandit

There's someone causing a lot of property damage on Leland... at least two building entrances and five cars have been hit with BB pellets.  Please call the police if you have any additional information.  We'd love to see this guy have to pay restitution and find out just how expensive it is to replace glass doors and pay auto insurance deductibles.

"I am a resident near the corner of Leland and Malden.  A third floor tenant at 1263 W. Leland Avenue has been, for the last two weeks, using a BB gun to shoot out the windows of parked cars, as well as the windows in the building directly across the street.

This past weekend, someone witnessed the vandalism taking place and called the police.  From what I was told, they were able to positively identify the individual and the cops made an arrest.  However, since no property owners were available to press charges at the time, the perpetrator was released from jail.

Last night, after the owner of the recently hit vehicle pressed charges, the police raided the apartment but were unable to locate the young man.  Shortly after the police left the scene, four very young men entered the unit, wandered around for a few minutes, turned the lights off (which the cops had intentionally left on) and left the building.

Four different young men, who had been hanging out in the alley for quite some time, walked up to the end of the alleyway, one of whom may have been spotted standing in the window of the unit of the perpetrator earlier in the day, and pointed at all the corners on which car windows have been shot out.  They also pointed at and peered into the windows of a vehicle whose front window had been shot and punctured multiple times but not shattered.  The behavior was very suspicious and was reported to the police, who showed up just as the young men departed together in a single vehicle.

The police did not approach the young men or pursue them, but the license plate number was provided to the police by a witness.  We of course do not know if any of the young men seen in the apartment or in the alley have any direct involvement in the vandalism, but the police have asked that all suspicious activity near the building be reported.

As residents living near this corner, we wanted to alert you to the ongoing situation.  We would like to see the perpetrator caught and held responsible for these random acts of vandalism.  Any individuals who have been victims of this vandalism should go to the police as soon as possible and file a formal report.  Additionally, we ask that neighbors keep your eyes peeled for suspicious activity at the alley on Leland between Magnolia and Malden and report it to the police."

Update: Another reader sent in photos of the damage to his car window, which was hit by BBs while parked on Leland near Malden. Nasty stuff.

13 comments:

  1. I was walking that stretch of Leland on Sunday afternoon, and twice heard fire crackers going off on the sidewalk on the south side of the street. It seems someone was throwing fire crackers out of a window at people walking below. We crossed to the north side of the street and saw several kids looking out the 3rd floor window. Unfortunately I did not have my cell phone to report the incident to the police. It seems to be too much of a coincidence for this not to be related.

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  2. Wicked Messenger, those are definitely the same kids. If they were in the building just to the west of the alley, that's absolutely the same unit. The 3rd floor unit on the southeast end of that building is where the BB gun is fired.

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  3. looks like a management company is going to have to bolt windows.

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  4. Crazy things going on in the neighborhood and I'm sick of it!!! After reading this I have to wonder what was going on last night... I got up early to go out of town today and my car was not where I parked it, it was pushed back a full car space. The car seemed fine but there were scratches on the street, it looked like the tires of my car probably scratched them when pushed? Don't really know but wish I saw what the hell was going on! My car was parked in front of Chase Park. When I decided my car was fine I had to head out of town so I didn't report it,but how would I??
    Last week a neighbor had a brick thrown through their car window during the night in front of Chase Park as well.

    I'm very sad for the state of the city and the decay of not only Uptown but so many neighborhoods.

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  5. The CPD should simply wait a few days, then begin questioning any kid with a bandage over one of their eyes.

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  6. Not sure if we can call out an address, but be careful walking by 1315 Leland.

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  7. Awww, 'boys' will be boys. On one level, I'm wondering where these Satanic kiddies are getting BB guns?
    On another level, I'm glad it's not worse.

    Problem building, without a doubt.

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  8. Before we start to demonize these misbehaving youth and alienating allies with words like "satanic" and the like here is another similar story of boys with BB's.

    http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-08-30/news/0608300175_1_pellet-guns-chicago-police-police-supt

    I have a problem calling this a "problem building" as the issue seems to originating from one unit. It is interesting how different the argument was framed in the article I've linked above, different circumstances, live targets, and mild consequences for the shooters. John Kass was all over it.

    There are some good people and great kids living in that building. I know two Uplift students who live in that building...they are good students and stay out of trouble. That is their home.

    And there are a couple loose canons as evidenced as well by the amateur fireworks show on the 4th. My nearby neighbors know exactly what I'm talkin' about that night....

    I'm glad this info is out and being shared, we all need to keep an eye on this, spread the word, the great majority of residents in my building have never checked UU and have no idea.

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  9. Littleton, thank you so much for your positive comments! I hate to see so much negativity. I have commented before about how much I would like to see more positivity surrounding Uptown Update and Uptown in general. I love living in Uptown and hate to see it get an undeserving bad name. There are lots of great people in the neighborhood, and we should celebrate that. As for the youth(s) doing the BB vandalism, let's hope they can be held responsible for the damage they have done. Most importantly, let's hope that the situation can be resolved quickly and peacefully.

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  10. Living here for 20 years, I've added many comments to U.U. about the wonderful life affirming things that go on. Whether it be encouraging picking up trash, or simply planting flowers.
    (heck, I even sent a posted photo about a cute bunny in my front yard)

    But if you're asking me to put a positive spin about some 'kids' who are shooting out car windows from an apartment building.....I can't do it.
    There's really nothing nice to 'say' about this kind of thing.

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  11. What these "urban youths" need is Boy Scouts. The Scoutmaster would not tolerate the baggy jeans & white T-Shirts. I wonder where they bought the BB Gun also?

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  12. On Friday night I was waiting for a buddy to come over and was looking out the window talking to him on my phone. At the same time there were about 10 youths age 12-15 or so hanging out in front of my building on Beacon & Sunnyside smoking what was probably pot. Most were wearing your typical p-stone attire. I didn't quite notice them at first but they noticed me and thought I was calling the cops and they started running and yelling stuff.

    When my buddy came over we went to the liquor store because we were looking to get our drink on, and when I came back two of the older youths were posted up in Sunnyside Mall right on the corner on Beacon giving my buddy and I hard looks.

    The next morning I had a bb hole in my front windshield. My damage is not anywhere as bad as some of the pictures posted. I do however want to bring light to this situation. I can't tell if was the same group for sure, or if this related to what is going on on Leland, but it sucks for all of us.

    Good news is I'm moving out of Uptown at the end of the month to a community that doesn't tollerate all the blatent gang banging and drug dealing. I do wish the best for uptown and I am currently accepting donations through paypal to get my window fixed.

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  13. That's pretty ballsy: a slight back hand to the community, followed with a plea for a donation.

    Thanks for the heads up, sorry 'bout your windshield, good luck on that paypal thing.

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