Chicago police report vandalism at Far South Side station

A vandal or vandals have been at work at a Morgan Park neighborhood police station, loosening lugnuts on squad cars there and plunking a large piece of concrete spray-painted with an anarchy symbol in the station parking lot.

"It weighs every bit of 50 pounds," said a Morgan Park District officer. "It's a big hunk of concrete found in the middle of the parking lot."

-from the Trib

-also UPI

Arson at Chicago Tea Patriots' Christmas Party

A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010:

12/16/10

“We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.

At appromixmately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.

Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY

Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating. To those who came to Friday’s party — THANK YOU! To those who we missed because you came after the bar closed — THANK YOU AND I’M SORRY WE MISSED YOU!! To those who were unable to make the party, here’s your 2nd chance!!

Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE!

Catherina Wojtowicz,

Chicago Tea Patriots
312-662-8666"

From Chicago Tea Patriots

Snitchin results in arrest in parking box theft

A suspect was charged early this morning in connection with the theft of several of the hefty pay-and-display parking boxes from city streets, police said.

Jeffery Kaput, 38, of the 5500 block of West Cortez Street, was charged with four felony theft counts related to the 200-pound LAZ boxes, according to police. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kaput was pulled over late Monday at 5518 W. Augusta Blvd. by an Area 5 robbery mission team after police had received a description from a witness of a car that had collided with one of the LAZ parking boxes, according to a police report.

Officers also had video evidence of the same vehicle being used by a suspect who dumped one of the meters, the report said.

The drug charge pertained to a crack pipe that police said Kaput admitted he had dropped as officers pulled him over about 11:45 p.m., according to the report.

Earlier this month, police said about 20 parking boxes have been stolen since Sept. 17, with only four recovered.

The thefts occurred citywide, with nearly half in Area 5 on the Northwest Side. It was not known how much money the boxes had held.

The deal that privatized the city's parking meters has been a political nightmare for Mayor Richard Daley and aldermen who granted lightning-fast approval of the the 75-year, $1.15 billion lease of the city's 36,000 meters.

The theft of the meters is still being investigated by Area 4 and Area 5 detectives.

Kaput is scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

from the Trib

Electronic pay machines stolen in continued sabotage of parking meters

Irate drivers may have found one way to deal with Chicago's new parking meters.

Twenty of the 200-pound electronic parking pay machines have been stolen throughout Chicago since Sept. 17, police department spokesman Roderick Drew said in an e-mail. It isn't known how much cash may have been taken from the stolen machines, he said.

Four of the pay machines have been recovered, Drew said.

Drivers who paid for parking with a credit card shouldn't be concerned about their information being stolen because the machines don't store credit card numbers, Drew said.

Although the thefts have been reported citywide, nearly half have occurred in the Grand Central Area on the Northwest Side, he said.

"Area 5 Detectives have been working with LAZ Parking to address this issue. Residents who witness vandalism or suspicious behavior should call police immediately," Drew said.

Police are still investigating, he said.

Nearly two years ago, the city signed a 75-year parking meter lease with Chicago Parking Meters LLC that led to soaring rates and initial troubles with jammed, broken and error-prone meters that angered many drivers.

Avis LaVelle, a spokeswoman for Chicago Parking Meters LLC, said in a statement she could not confirm the reports of thefts.

But she added, "Theft or destruction of pay boxes and meters is regarded as a very serious offense and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

If a driver comes across a parking spot with a missing pay box, he or she should find another nearby box, LaVelle said.

If there is no box, the driver can park, then should call the customer service line of meter operator LAZ Parking at ... to notify the company of the missing box. That call is used as "documentation of defense in the event of a possible citation," LaVelle said.

from the Trib

Politician’s SUV broken into in South Loop

A man was charged with felony burglary after allegedly breaking into a sport-utility vehicle local registered to a local politician Sunday afternoon on the Near South Side.

from the Sun-Times

Elk Grove thieves nab trailer of vodka

Thieves got away with a trailer and the vodka it contained -- worth a combined $75,000 -- from a northwest suburban trucking yard earlier this month.

The theft occurred sometime between the late evening on March 18 and early morning on March 19 at Coast Connection Trucking, on the 2600 block of Greenleaf in Elk Grove Village, according to Elk Grove Police Sgt. Mike Gaspari.

The thieves took the trailer and 30 pallets of Vitali vodka inside from the lot at the trucking company, Gaspari said.

The trailer was not attached to a tractor when it was in the lot. "We surmise that the offenders had their own tractor which they attached to the trailer," Gaspari said.

from the Sun-Times

Prosecutors: $1,000 bribe for making false driver's license

The manager of a West Side driver's license facility accepted a $1,000 bribe to produce a fictitious driver’s license for a driver whose license had been suspended, prosecutors charged Thursday.

from the Sun-Times

Arrest made for graffiti written in acid

Eddie D. Garcia told officers he began his graffiti career with a spray-paint can.
But he apparently wanted to leave a more permanent mark.

So Garcia etched his tag, "SOAR," on windows across the Southwest Side -- using acid, according to Chicago Police.

Garcia, 23, was arrested earlier this week and charged with felony damage to property.

"Some artists move from paint to sculpture," said Cmdr. John Kupczyk of the Chicago Lawn District. "But he said he started out in paint and moved to acid."

Garcia, a full-time student at Richard J. Daley College, was caught in an early morning stakeout in the 3700 block of West 63rd with a sponge-tipped marker filled with hydrofluoric acid and a cell phone containing photos of his handiwork, Kupczyk said.

Police searched his home in the 5800 block of South Rockwell and found spray-paint cans, a bottle of acid and sketch books of his graffiti, according to court records.

Garcia gave a statement implicating himself in the crimes, authorities say.

from the Sun-Times

Taggers nail multimillion dollar Gold Coast home

Graffiti artists, for those inclined to call spray-painters something other than vandals, turned a 50-foot brick wall of a Gold Coast house into their canvas.

The taggers, who left at least three monikers, are believed to have scaled a fence at a construction site in the wee hours Monday, said the builder and neighbors. The street artists defaced the coach house in the 900 block of North Clark Street behind the protective cover of a tarp and then tore it off when they left to unveil their work.

Builders have been working on the multimillion-dollar, Architectural Digest-worthy site for two years. The original structure was built in the early 1900s as a ComEd substation. Two stories were added later to repurpose it as a home, along with the coach house that abuts the street.

from the Tribune

Arson suspected in school fire

A fire that caused more than $100,000 damage at Naperville's Scott Elementary School is being investigated as an arson, police said Monday.

Cmdr. Mike Anders said investigators have interviewed several students and staff members at the school at 500 Warwick Drive.

He said the initial probe was handled by a joint team of police officers and firefighters, but police took over once it was determined a crime was involved.

Scott students and faculty had to be evacuated about 9:30 a.m. Friday after a fire began in the boys washroom and destroyed a toilet paper dispenser and stall partition.

No one was injured, but smoke spread throughout the building and caused extensive damage.

from the Daily Herald

Vandals flatten tires on 32 school buses

Service was delayed on a number of north suburban Zion-Benton Township High School bus routes Monday morning because of flat tires on 32 buses.

School authorities got vendors to help re-inflate the tires. One or more tires were deflated on each of the buses.

from the Sun-Times

Chicago Olympics banner vandalized

Six people were arrested this evening after they yanked an Olympic banner from the Daley Center's Picasso statue and tossed it into the nearby "eternal" flame, police said.

The suspects, arrested just after 7:30 p.m., weren't believed to be a part of an anti-Olympics bid rally that took place in front of City Hall this afternoon, police said.

After gathering in the Daley Center, the six vandals pulled down a banner -- valued at thousands of dollars -- from the statue and damaged a portion of it in the flame dedicated to veterans, Chicago Police Lt. Charles Flynn said.

The alleged vandals then got into a physical confrontation with responding police officers, who took all six into custody. Authorities were meeting with prosecutors seeking felony charges including damage to property and possibly aggravated battery to a police officer, Flynn said.

from the Trib

video here

Taking a page from Twin Cities police, anarchists make pre-emptive G20 strike?

Sources indicate nails and screws were forced into the tires on at least a dozen marked and unmarked police cars as well as a number of private cars.

Pittsburgh Police sources say at least a dozen police cars and a number of private cars were vandalized.

Sources also confirm police investigators have substantial information to believe the crime was committed by anarchists in town for the G-20 Summit.

Police detectives took photographs and looked for evidence in the parking lot of police headquarters Thursday afternoon.

The damage was done to the cars' tires.

Sources indicate nails and screws were forced into the tires on at least a dozen marked and unmarked police cars as well as a number of private cars.

Sources indicate it is believed a number of suspected anarchists came to police headquarters late Wednesday night and damaged as many cars as possible.

Police indicate the tires cannot be plugged and must be replaced because the cars have to operate at high speeds.

Damage estimates at this time are running in the thousands of dollars.

Sources indicate the suspected anarchists came to prove to police they can do damage whenever and wherever they want.

There was no official comment regarding the incident.

KDKA's Marty Griffin has been told the mayor, police chief and public safety director are outraged by the brazen nature of the attack.

There will also be increased security in the parking lot starting Thursday night.

video from YouTube

City booting more cars

When Chicago's City Council decided to lower the threshold for slapping a metal boot on cars, you had to know there would be an influx of cash going into city coffers. After all, that was half the point.

An investigation by the Sun-Times shows the program has been a huge success, as far as city accountants are concerned. Since April 22, the city has mailed a whopping 183,293 seizure notices and booted nearly 3,500 cars.

Good news for the city; bad news for you.

Now, to get the boot, all you need are two unpaid tickets older than a year to get the boot. The city has even put $1.5 million behind new technology to bolster their booting abilities. They now have 26 vans equipped with electronically controlled cameras that can check 900 license plates per hour, searching for bootable cars.

If your car is booted, you'll have to pay all unpaid parking violations and fines to get it removed. And if your car also gets towed, you'll also have to pay those pesky towing and storage fees.

A Revenue Department spokesman said they're out to "maximize collections" for the city.

from NBC

I'm unsure of the success rate, this pamphlet claims to have information on how to beat the boot. In particular, this suggestion sounds enticing:

That means, of course, that an anarchist thug with a penchant for trouble-making (or a wily hustler with an eye for a quick profit) could easily dismantle and remove the boot from some poor innocent scofflaw's illegally parked car, take the thing home, bust the lock off and pay a less-than-scrupulous locksmith to make up a new key -- a key that would instantly unlock every boot in the city.

50 parking meters vandalized on North Side

About 50 coin-fed parking meters were vandalized today in the three adjacent North Side neighborhoods of Andersonville, Edgewater and Uptown, according to Chicago police.

The coin slots were obstructed with an adhesive thought to be glue or putty, Police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said. The putty is removable "if they have something to scrape it with," Perez said.

The meters have also been sprayed with silver paint. Officials are on the scene.

Police said the meters are in the 5100 block of North Clark Street, the 5500 block of North Sheridan Road, the 1000 block of West Argyle Street, the 4900 block of North Winthrop Avenue and the 4900 block of North Kenmore Avenue.

Since the city leased the parking meters to a private company earlier this year, they have been the target of controversy, with complaints of price increases, computer glitches that made some pay boxes inoperable, non-working and mismarked meters.

It was not immediately known how long it would take to affect repairs or if police would refrain from writing tickets at the damaged meters.

from the Trib

Parking meter revolt continues

Over the course of the past few weeks, readers have sent us more photos of vandalized meters, and we've come across them, as well. Meters clogged with expanding foam and super glue, stolen meter heads and parking meters knocked over by cars.

A reader named Gary, who sent the photo of the bent meter, when asked if he thought it was the result of vandalism stemming from the meter rate increases said, "All I can tell you is that this meter was straight a few days ago, but after the rates went up, I found this meter like this."

pics and more at Expired Meter

Anarchist attacks around Chicago Wednesday

Why do we fight? Why do we even attempt to fight the totality of domination and exploitation? If what we seek is a world in which we are free to truly express our desires, then we must create it by destroying all relations based on power and commerce. These three targets were chosen for that reason.

Last night, April 22nd, an Olympic ad was defaced and altered in East Pilsen. This target was chosen simply because we refuse to allow the city and its corporate pals to celebrate the intensification of capitalism and the displacement of people.The three sided ad originally had glorified pictures of athletes and the word "Imagine". The largest side now reads "NEVER" and has a nice big circle A as well. The right side now reads "Imagine RIOTS".

The next target was a building owned by capitalist land lord Podmajersky. Podmajersky is a major force in the gentrification of Pilsen. Once you look, you can see his high rise condos and buildings that plague the area all around. Two windows were smashed on a building owned by Podmajersky near his headquarters on Halsted. A third window was smashed with a parking meter that bore a message. The message reads "Dear Racist Capitalist Scum, You and your tenants are displacing us. This is our response and it is only the beginning." And we left a winking smiley face at the bottom just for you, Podmajersky!

But do we really need a campaign to attack all these oppressive institutions? Do we need any other reason then to destroy all relations based on domination and capital? To highlight this point, a large window was smashed and another window was damaged on a Standard Bank near the Sheridan red line. We did this for no other reason than to attack an institution that perpetuates our misery and feeds off our exploitation. Do we want the system to change or do we want its total abolition? Even if the city doesn't get its corporate circus and even if all the capitalist scum like Podmajersky stop gentrifying our neighborhood, we will continue to attack. Insurrection ends when domination does.

Towards a Spring Social War!

from Chicago IndyMedia

an interesting related article from the Sun-Times

Chicago Insurgent Network's First Strike at the City Of Chicago and the IOC

There has been a recent spark of sabotage among Chicago's residents in regards to the coming Olympic bid, the economy, and gentrification in general. An Olympics 2016 "Imagine" billboard was altered near the intersection of Diversey and Elston Aves last night. The buildboard now reads a truer sentiment: "Imagine (A) Social War". To give them a taste of what we meant, 30 parking meters and 2 ATMs were disabled; later in the night, the locks were glued shut on a Chipotle and a T-Mobile store.

The infamous CPD have scared us into hiding for too long. Spring is here, a season of renewal, and the time to act is now. The city continues to demean us with their Olympic advertising and corporate pride, giving free 2016 shirts to the same members of our communities who'll be displaced if we recieve the bid; all the while using symantics like Obama's: "hope", "change", "imagine". The state won't wait to destroy our communities, so we can't wait to fight back.

The words echoed on the billboard, foretelling of SOCIAL WAR, are just the beginning. We will continue to strike, in the dead of night, when you least expect it. Though, there is one thing you can expect: an all out riot on the streets of Chicago in 2016, and continuous, more and more rapid struggles and direct action from us here in these communities, already ravaged so much with poverty, stricken with fear, and with (almost) nothing left to lose.

from Chicago IndyMedia

Anarchist Olympics: Chicago 2016 mural defaced

Someone defaced a 2016 welcome mural on the Mural Building in the 1700 block of North Ashland Avenue, in an incident that was discovered this morning. Police were called to the building about 7:55 a.m, authorities said.

The damage appeared to have been inflicted with paintballs and workers were already on the scene about an hour later, painting over the splatters.

The former warehouse, which faces the Kennedy Expressway just south of Armitage Avenue, was the site of traffic-stopping ads featuring then-Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman for now-defunct clothing retailer Bigsby & Kruthers.

from the Trib

Anarchist Olympics begin: Local Artist Collective Welcomes the IOC

This past week has left us feeling inspired. The bus stops ads, corporations supporting the bid, flags everywhere, buses themselves, the Olympic spirit has gripped the city. Never have we felt such a sense of pride in our greater community. We owe it all to these fine people, who have been kind enough to grace us with their presence for the week. Word got out about the soiree they were having last night, and we felt the need to do something to show them how the city feels, much more than dinner and drinks ever could. We couldn't hide our passionate pride for one more day.

April Fools you fucking idiots!

Last night we paint bombed two billboard monstrosities overlooking the Kennedy expressway. They were Olympic advertisements, just like the ones you see every time you turn your head. Except bigger. We kindly suggest fellow citizens to find friends, some eggs, or paint and bombard the advertisements that are trying to sell gentrification, police oppression, profits for the rich, and annoying tourists.

We Won't Pay!

Fuck the corporate circus, Sabotage the Olympic bid.

edited for readability, from Chicago IndyMedia