Woman Caught On Video Plowing Over Northwest Side Couple's Yard; They Say Criticism Of Ald. James Gardiner Made Them Target
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman was caught on video destroying the front yard of a Northwest Side couple's home with a sport-utility vehicle, and screaming loudly as she did so.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Monday night, the man believes his criticism of the local alderman made him a target.
Shattered lawn decorations, flattened plants, and tire tracks now cover Peter Czosnyka's front lawn.
"That was probably $200 right there," he said.
It was the aftermath of vandalism by an SUV at 3:15 a.m. Saturday, which was caught on surveillance video.
"You'll see her, up and back and up and back," Czosnyka said.
Czosnyka's carefully-planted security camera captured most of the vandalism, but not all of it. He said the woman driving the SUV ended what he believes was her targeted rampage by totaling a white sedan that was parked just down the street – an act that security footage caught.
"She mentioned my name a couple of times," Czosnyka said.
The cameras caught that too. The woman is heard saying "Pete."
Czosnyka is an outspoken critic of Ald. James Gardiner (45th). This is relevant because his wife said the same woman in the same SUV with the same license plate drove by just seven hours earlier with a message.
"Yelled at me, 'You tell your husband to leave the alderman alone!'" said Noreen Czosnyka.
Noreen Czosnyka: "She said the alderman."
Kozlov: "And you took that to mean?"
Noreen Czosnyka: "Alderman Gardiner."
This also happened just two days after a Northwest Side watchdog article hit social media. It was about Pete Czosnyka's apparently-blocked attempt to get public city records related to a parking permit dispute involving Gardiner that we reported on in March.
The Czosnykas filed police reports with Jefferson Park (16th) District officers, including the SUV's license plate number. Days later, an officer told him the license plate number was gone from their records.
"The chat we hear in the 16th is they're trying to cover this up, paint me as 'Pete the crazy guy,'" Pete Czysnoka said. "But it's complicated because of that car."
He meant the sedan that was left totaled in the rampage.
When specifically asked, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department would not say if the license plate number is included in the report, and they would only say the incident is under investigation. No arrests have been made.
Ald. Gardiner did not reply to Kozlov's call for comment Monday.