Scores of police squad cars were damaged at the Harrison District police station, 3151 W. Harrison St. (Credit: CBS)
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UPDATED 07/01/11 11:17 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Scores of police squad cars were among the many vehicles damaged Thursday night due to the hailstorm that swept through.
As CBS 2’s Susanna Song reports, 64 squad cars were damaged while parked outside at the Harrison District station, at 3151 W. Harrison St.
Of the 64 squad cars, 45 have windshield or window damage, while the rest have dings and dents, police said.
In the Ogden District just to the south, 23 police cars parked at the station at 3315 W. Ogden Ave. were damaged. They sustained damage to their windows, windshields and police light bars, as well as dents.
Police say the cars were taken in for repair at the Harrison Garage, in the Harrison District station.
The damage did not affect police service in the two districts, which include high-crime areas such as North Lawndale, Little Village and East and West Garfield Park.
Meanwhile, near Homan Avenue and Lexington Street, two boys from the neighborhood – Zachary and Isaiah – collected the golfball-sized hailstones in a plastic pail. But the owners cars parked on the block were not so thrilled.
“I have to replace the whole windshield now,” said Bill Adrianos, whose sport-utility vehicle was damaged. “The whole carriage has to be redone. There’s damage in the whole body of the car.”
Adrianos’ vehicle was one of many that was damaged in the North Lawndale neighborhood.
“The hail was hitting so hard, it almost sounded like it was going to knock the building down,” said Nancy Anderson, whose car was damaged. “The windshield is cracked up, then it’s all in the car all over, on the sides and everywhere.”
“The glass is shot,” said hail storm victim Darvel Stone. “They told me it would be about $150, but it’s 35 cars ahead of me right now.”
While the West Side was hit particularly hard, the sheets of hail pounded the city’s streets everywhere Thursday night.
CBS 2 viewer Cathy Curtis of the Brighton Park neighborhood sent pictures of hail blanketing her garden like snow and cluttering her flower pot. She said she did not have any hail damage along her street.
The storms Thursday evening reportedly brought baseball-sized hail to some areas.
