A man is now in custody, accused of taking an axe to firefighters’ vehicles across Chicago, with police effectively extinguishing a bizarre crime spree on the same Chinatown block where it began.
CPD said officers arrested 26-year-old Jacob Bogdan on Saturday in the 200 block of West Cermak Road, home to a CFD firehouse that was prominently featured in the 1991 Hollywood movie Backdraft. The arrest came hours after detectives issued a public alert about the string of attacks.
Bogdan, now charged with 21 felony counts of criminal damage to property, is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on Sunday.
Authorities said the spree began at 5:22 a.m. on February 5, when a man armed with an axe targeted vehicles parked outside the Chintown firehouse at 212 West Cermak Road. That was followed by two incidents outside a CFD station at 53 East Pershing Road and another at the 21 West 59th Street firehouse.
Surveillance video published by Chicago Contrarian showed a man wielding an axe and deliberately smashing vehicle windows. Images from an internal CPD bulletin, dated April 7, included clear photos of the suspect’s face, but those details were not shared in the public-facing alert.
Police did not reveal a motive for the attacks. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
Court records show Bogdan received a two-year sentence for criminal damage to government property in Chicago in 2024. The details of that case were not immediately available.
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