Person questioned for throwing rocks in Loop after reports of smashed car windows

CHICAGO (SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE) - Police are questioning a person spotted throwing rocks in the Loop Thursday in the wake of dozens of cars being vandalized in Loop parking garages earlier in the week.

Police were called at 10:28 a.m. for reports of “a male subject throwing rocks” in the first block of South Wells Street, according to Chicago police. It was not immediately clear if he was throwing the rocks at vehicles or whether the incident took place inside a garage.

Officers found him in the 800 block of South Wells and took him into custody for questioning, police said.

Authorities said it’s too early to say whether the case is connected to a series of similar incidents in which rocks were thrown through car windows earlier this week at Loop parking garages.

About 12:45 a.m. Thursday, officers responded to a garage in the first block of East Adams Street and found 17 vehicles with rocks thrown through their rear windshields, police said. The vehicles were scattered throughout different floors of the 12-story garage. No thefts were reported from any of the vehicles.

Police believe the incident may be related to a similar case from Tuesday, when officers found 24 vehicles damaged in the same way at a parking garage in the 300 block of South Franklin Street. Another incident was reported an hour later at a garage in the 100 block of West Madison Street.

One man in his early 30s is suspected in both cases, police said.