PUEBLO — Business owners in Pueblo are concerned about recent vandalism Downtown. They say several shops along North Santa Fe Avenue have had their windows broken including at The Great Divide Ski, Bike, and Hike.
Broken glass is leaving a mess as it covers the sidewalk outside The Great Divide Ski Bike And Hike in Pueblo. Lee Newhard has owned the shop for years.
“I've been the owner for 40 years, and we've been in different locations, and this, this one, we've been here since 1991,” said Newhard.
He said throughout all his years of business, he has never experienced this before.
“We've had a single window shot out or broken into, but never, never a dozen windows at one time,” said Newhard.
But this October, Newhard said he has come to work to see glass covering the sidewalk and 12 of his front windows of his store broken.
“We just just couldn't believe it when it happened,” said Newhard.
He thinks they were shot out.
“A pellet gunner, BB gun, yeah, something of that sort. Because nothing, nothing penetrated the glass, just broke it out,” said Newhard.
He said the tempered glass many car windows are made out of is the same glass as his store windows. When they are broken, the window will shatter into thousands of small pieces.
Newhard replaced the 12 windows that were originally broken. But just days after the new windows were installed, three more windows were shot out again.
“I was so happy to have all the windows replaced when they got them done, and then a couple days later, I came to work and saw that they had shot these three out. I just couldn't believe it,” said Newhard.
Shock struck again this Tuesday when Newhard noticed the new mark seen below on his upper windows.
Three more windows were shot out overnight. It's the third incident this month.
“I just was surprised when it came to work, saw the damage,” said Newhard.
This damage is costing him thousands. He said insurance is covering nearly $14,000, but he'll have to pay at least $8,000.
“We got paid by the insurance company in the first round. Like I say, this one (second incident) will not be enough to get a hold of the insurance,” said Newhard.
In October, 19 of Newhard’s windows at his business were shot. His shop is not the only one.
“Windows at Wilcox and Buick were shot out and there's a building at 12th and Santa Fe that Parkview owns where those windows were shot out in that round and then behind me here on the across the street. Some of the windows were shot out at the tattoo shot behind us,” said Newhard.
His next door neighbor's front window was also shot and shattered.
“They shot a bunch of everything out,” said Newhard.
Newhard filed a police report with Pueblo Police Department.
A spokesperson for Pueblo Police provided News5 with this statement:
“Since January 1, there have only been four documented cases of damage from a pellet and/or BB gun. The evening Great Divide was damaged additional businesses were damaged; however this may be an isolated event by one person.”
Police advise business owners to protect their stores with security systems and cameras so they can review the footage for any leads.
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