Vandals go on window-shooting spree in Clinton

Font Size:

By Steven Martens | Thursday, January 11, 2007 12:57 AM CST | () comments

CLINTON, Iowa — Someone with a BB or pellet gun has been very busy in Clinton.

Clinton police received 67 reports of vehicle windows shot out, all but one of them occurring between late Monday and early Tuesday, Police Chief Brian Guy said Wednesday.

The largest concentration of reports came from the area just north of Clinton High School, but reports were received from other parts of the city, Guy said.

“It doesn’t seem like any part of the city was spared,” he said.

Guy said vehicle vandalism isn’t unusual, but it is rare to have so many incidents in such a short period of time.

He estimated the total damage between $10,000 and $13,000 and called the window-breaking spree “a senseless act of vandalism.”

The vandalism brought a business boom to Auto Glass Center in Clinton. Manager Joey Riffel said his business repaired 15 broken car windows Wednesday and has 12 more scheduled for today.

“We’ve been staying real busy,” he said.

Mary Nolan, who lives in the 400 block of 4th Avenue South, said a side window in her family’s Chevy Malibu was shot out sometime after 11 p.m. Monday while it was parked on the street in front of their home. She remembered a similar incident eight or nine years ago.

“A bunch of people in Clinton got it then, too,” she said.

Nolan said she hopes the culprit or culprits get caught.

James Settler, who lives in the 2900 block of Pershing Boulevard and had his car window shot out early Tuesday, said the incident might be the last straw for him in Clinton.

“We’re talking about leaving Clinton now,” he said. “The crime rate is getting too high for us.”

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.

To help

Anyone with information about the window-shooting incidents is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at (563) 243-1457 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at (563) 242-6595.