A man has been using an axe to chop up the cars of Chicago firefighters parked outside city firehouses — but you wouldn’t know that from reading CPD’s just-released public alert about the crime spree.
The alert released on Friday warned about a man who has used an “unknown object to damage the windows of government property” four times since February. The alert didn’t identify the locations as firehouses, and despite published surveillance video showing the man using an axe to chop cars and an internal CPD bulletin that included three photos of the man’s face, none of that made it into the public notice.
Instead, the alert said the man had “used an object to damage vehicles” in the 200 block of West Cermak Road on February 5 at 5:22 a.m.; the 100 block of East Pershing Road at 3 p.m. on March 16 and again at 12:50 a.m. on April 6; and the 100 block of West 59th Street at 5:55 a.m. on April 10.
Chicago Contrarian reported on Twitter that the incidents occurred at firehouses at 212 West Cermak Road, 53 East Pershing Road, and 21 West 59th Street. The outlet also published video of the attacks, images of a damaged vehicle, and the CPD internal bulletin dated April 7, which included surveillance images of the man detectives were trying to identify.
The public alert described the suspect as a Black man last seen wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt or jacket, black pants, and white gym shoes. “The subject is also seen carrying a sharp object,” the bulletin said — a bit of an understatement.
Anyone with information about the man can contact Area One Detectives at 312-747-8384 regarding crime pattern #26-1-037CA.
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