By Andrew Davis
The flagship branch of Cheetah Gym, 5248 N. Clark, was vandalized June 11, causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage—and the chain's owner said that it's not the first time it's happened to one of his workout facilities.
'There were 10 windows that were broken early Sunday morning [ June 11 ] ,' noted David Wilshire, owner of Cheetah Gyms. He also told Windy City Times that the Broadway location, at 5838 N. Broadway, has been plagued by attacks. 'We've had 17 windows broken [ total ] . However, a number of businesses have been hit and they're predominantly gay-owned.'
Wilshire stated that an interesting coincidence occurred regarding this latest incident. 'At the same time it happened, our security system failed,' he said. 'The only explanation we have is that the power to the building was somehow cut. The system had been working for a long time; it's very suspicious that it happened to stop working on the very day this [ incident ] happened.' Wilshire said that the fact that there are no leads, in light of several occurrences, is 'mind-boggling.' ( A security guard connected with the Andersonville Midsommarfest—which also occurred that weekend—gave chase, but was unable to apprehend or describe the perpetrator. )
Ellen Shepard, executive director of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, sent a message to the area's business owners about what happened at the gym and expressed her hope that the incident does not mark 'the beginning of another round of vandalism targeted in our area.' However, when asked about the possibility of the incident being a hate crime, she told Windy City Times that she was not certain: 'While we have a lot of gay-owned businesses in the area, with all the businesses that have been hit, I'm not sure that if there's a pattern or if it's random.'
However, to Wilshire, who plans to have a community meeting at the gym on June 29 to address the problem, what occurred was beyond vandalism: 'One, two or even three windows might [ constitute ] vandalism. Ten windows, though? That's a hate crime—and 17 windows [ are ] beyond belief.'
Contact the 20th District Police Department at 312-742-8714.