By Rebecca Johnson
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — It was just after midnight on April 6 when Jacob Bogdan allegedly snuck into a fenced-off area at a Chicago Fire Department firehouse in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood, Cook County prosecutors alleged in court over the weekend.
Wielding an axe, the 26-year-old Englewood resident damaged the hoods and windows of a dozen cars parked in the lot, causing more than $75,000 in damage, prosecutors said.
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And this wasn’t the last time Bogdan, using an axe, caused damage to firefighters’ vehicles, prosecutors said. Four days later, he allegedly walked into a Washington Park firehouse parking lot, where he again smashed the hoods and windows of seven cars.
At a Sunday detention hearing, Judge James Vincent Murphy III ordered Bogdan held pending trial, noting that he’s accused of causing more than $130,000 in damage during four incidents this year, according to court records. He faces a total of 21 felony counts for criminal damage to government property and criminal damage to property.
Murphy also said Bogdan has “problems with firefighters” and added that Bogdan stated he carries the axe to protect himself from firefighters, records show. Bogdan also threatened to kill his own father, Murphy said. Bogdan has a previous felony conviction for criminal damage to government property, according to court records.
Larry Merritt, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department, said he didn’t have any comment, calling it a “police matter.” Bogdan is represented by the public defender’s office, which didn’t provide an immediate comment.
Prosecutors said Bogdan was repeatedly captured on surveillance footage. A firefighter who witnessed Bogdan hitting his car with an axe during the April 10 incident also identified him, prosecutors said. He caused more than $32,000 in destruction that day, they alleged.
Bogdan is also accused of damaging property at the same Grand Boulevard firehouse on March 16 . This time, prosecutors said he used a footlong metal bolt to break windows on the firehouse’s garage doors, which totaled $20,000 in damage. He discarded the metal rod 30 feet from the garage after fleeing, prosecutors said.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors accused Bogdan of breaking a dozen windows at a Chinatown firehouse with an unknown object. He also allegedly smashed a red light, resulting in about $3,600 in damage.
Bogdan was arrested Saturday “without incident” in the 200 block of West Cermak Road after he was spotted on the sidewalk, according to Chicago police and court records.
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