‘Some bloke with a golf club smashed up my car’ - Crookes residents left reeling by rampage
“Police came around to take statements and said it was 23 cars”
Residents in a Sheffield suburb are picking up the pieces after “some bloke with a golf club” smashed up 23 cars.
A man who asked not to be named said a hole had been punched in his windscreen, while others had had rear and side windows shattered in a tea-time rampage through Crookes.
Vehicles were attacked on Forres Road and Carson Road in Crookes shortly before 6pm on Wednesday June 17, locals say.
The man said: “I'd literally only got home from work for five minutes before. I went to empty my bag, went upstairs, heard some commotion, and went into my son's room up there, looked out of the window, and it was some bloke with a golf club smashing up my car.
“It was nothing to do with football. It happened about six o'clock.
“Police came around to take statements last night, they said it was 23 cars.
“Because he's hit it right in the middle. So, I've now got to ring Green Flag and see if they can take it in. It can't be done on the road because of all the electronics.
“So it's just a massive pain and it has affected a lot of people on this street.”
One person said she was in her car with three children and he struck the vehicle next to hers and it was “terrifying.”
Another said they drove past Early Bar at 96 Crookes and saw lots of police cars and a smashed window.
Photos from the scene show cars with cracked windscreen glass around an impact site - including on a Sheffield City Council van - others show completely shattered rear and side windows.
Another resident - Andrew - said a car was smashed outside his house.
He said: “I don’t feel safe here anymore, I’ve lived here in Crookes for 10 years and it has definitely gone downhill.
“It’s not fair on residents to live in fear that when they wake up in the morning and they may have to deal with something like this.
“I think police need to do more, perhaps be harsher if they know who has done it.
“Not long ago there were also people slashing tires, it feels like we are just waiting for the next incident.
“The flats just across the road are also all boarded up with paint splattered everywhere. And there was that murder not too long ago.”
South Yorkshire Police said they were called following multiple reports of a man smashing the windows of vehicles in Crookes.
A spokesperson said: “Officers were deployed to the scene and a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon, assault an emergency worker, possession of Class A drugs, racially aggravated public order offences, affray and being wanted on recall to prison.
“He remains in police custody at this time.”