Seven local stores sustained over $10,000 in vandalism damages
By TIM MURPHY Special to the Daily Press
A string of vandalism incidents left many Wilshire Boulevard businesses out thousands of dollars and cleaning up broken glass Sunday morning.
Shop windows were shattered by unknown assailants as they traveled east along Wilshire Boulevard, damaging stores in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.
At least seven Santa Monica businesses from 11th Street to Centinela Avenue had their windows broken, racking up about $10,000 in damages.
A Santa Monica police department spokesperson said officers did not know what vandals used to break the windows, and the police department has not determined any possible suspects.
Some business owners said metal pipes and stones were used to break their windows, while Melissa Powman, store manager of Pier One Imports, said the vandals used her storefront advertisements as target practice for their BB guns.
Two 12 foot tall windows were destroyed and others were riddled with BB holes, Powman said.
Pier One’s surveillance tapes during the 3 a.m. incident show heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic along Wilshire Boulevard due to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, Powman said. However, they don’t show who broke the store’s windows.
“There were party buses driving by and people walking around, somebody had to see something,” she said. “I’ve never seen Wilshire (Boulevard) that busy at that time of night.”
Police have not said if St. Patrick’s Day festivities were connected in any way to the vandalism.
Powman said when she called to have the store windows boarded up the handyman was exhausted, saying he’d been on eight jobs already that morning.
It cost the shop $275 to board up the windows, and Powman estimated replacing the two large plate glass windows would cost about $4,000.
When a large store front window was smashed at Pets of Wil-shire, broken glass fell into a fish and turtle pond inside the store.
“The fish had to be removed and the turtles dry-docked,” said Kathy Corvo, the store manager.
The store’s owner found two chunks of metal inside the store, which she believes were used to smash the window.
“It’s disturbing that some people think this is fun, but they don’t think about the consequences to the people,” Corvo said. “Or in our case the animals.”
A large storefront window at Cars With Class was also broken, and the falling debris caused minor body damage to a vintage car parked inside.
When the glass door of Haddad Printing was shattered, store owner Vida Foroutan said her husband received a call from police early in the morning explaining the situation. Foroutan said when her husband arrived at 9 a.m. the door was boarded up and there was glass strewn everywhere. She estimated re-pairing the damages will cost over $700.
“It’s degrading to the neighborhood,” Foroutan said. “Our business comes from local residents and it’s upsetting to everyone to see vandalism going on. It would be terrible to see iron gates on the store fronts in this neighborhood.”
Moris Pourvaser, owner of the Tehran Market estimated replacing his smashed storefront window would cost roughly $2,000. At the W. I. Simon Mercedes-Benz dealership at 17th Street several two-story tall windows were destroyed, but no cars inside were damaged.
Vandals also smashed a 15 foot tall window at Al and Ed’s AutoSound at Centinela Avenue.
“They’re just kids trying to prove something,” Corvo said, “but they just prove they are ignorant.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 19, 2002. Read the original PDF.