Broken windows, railroad tie part of Bar One bus vandalism

By MICHAEL SWIONTEK

On the weekend of Oct. 20, every window on the bus once used to drive Bar One patrons home was smashed out.

DeKalb police have yet to find out who vandalized the vehicle.

The blue-and-gray bus sits just behind the BP gas station at 920 W. Lincoln Highway with glass strewn all over the interior, a broken double door and a railroad tie protruding from the windshield.

“How does something like this happen without someone knowing?” said John Sanfilippo, property and bus owner.

Sanfilippo said vandals have been causing problems since the bar closed in May.

The door being broken, bricks thrown at the building and a gradual destruction of the bus have frustrated the owner.

“It had to take three or four people,” said Jake Nantz, a junior English major who lives nearby. “That piece of wood is huge.”

When Ben O’Brien, another neighbor and junior history major, saw the damage, he was surprised.

“I know people get rowdy, but I didn’t think it would get that bad,” O’Brien said.

Nantz used to live on Regent Drive and said the area is normally a lot quieter.

“That’s not just petty vandalism,” Nantz said.

Copy Service, 1005 W. Lincoln Highway, has been renting parking space from Sanfilippo to use as a U-Haul drop-off area.

“This is the first vandalism that I have seen back there,” said Dave Baker, DeKalb 6th Ward alderman, who owns Copy Service.

The city told Sanfilippo that they would increase patrols of the lot after his complaint was filed.

“I feel like putting a fence around the property and just keeping everyone out,” Sanfilippo said. “I’m trying to lease that [Bar One site].”