Posted on 07/18/2007 8:28:59 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
Vandals Batter D.C. Man's SUV, Slash Its Tires and Scratch In an Eco Note
On a narrow, leafy street in Northwest Washington, where Prius hybrid cars and Volvos are the norm, one man bought a flashy gray Hummer that was too massive to fit in his garage. So he parked the seven-foot-tall behemoth on the street in front of his house and smiled politely when his eco-friendly neighbors looked on in disapproval at his "dream car."
It lasted five days on the street before two masked men took a bat to every window, a knife to each 38-inch tire and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON."
"The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves...
Now, as Groves ponders what to do with the remains of his $38,000 SUV, he has been the target of a number of people who have driven by the crime scene in his upscale neighborhood and glared at him in smug satisfaction...
Neighbor Lucille Liem, 37, who owns a Prius hybrid, said that a common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles are impractical and a strain on the Earth -- and Hummers in particular are a symbol of consumer excess... Liem added quickly that she does not condone violence...
Investigators said they are searching for the vandals but don't have many leads. Witnesses saw two men about six feet tall with bandanas or masks over their faces smash up the car about 3:30 a.m. Monday and then run off...
He bought the used 2005 vehicle a month ago from a dentist in Fairfax County..."I'm worried about what I do now," he said. "If I get it fixed, do I put it back in the same spot three weeks from now?"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
See - you have the right attitude!
Once on my way to work, I was behind a slow-moving Ford Expedition. It was raining slightly, but there were puddles on the road. The driver was slowing down, and driving AROUND the puddles, so as to not drive through them.
Additionally - there’s one stretch of the road where half the lane is uneven due to some construction that happened earlier in the year. The driver slows down and straddles the yellow line, just to avoid 30 yds of uneven pavement.
In a massive SUV. I was baffled.
That is actually a very upscale part of town. Washington D.C. is a city full of crappy old houses that people pay way too much money for, and then you get to live in a neighborhood of Doody-heads.
Since I know you, sorta, I will stipulate to the appropriateness of your owning a ‘Vette so you can pwn those stupid kids.
I would love to have a car that shows the CRX drivers something real.
i agree. we have an SUV and we are not outdoorsy types. i would never drive a station wagon bc i prefer the visibility i have being higher up than road level. 3 kids, and 2 dogs and hockey equipment etc. requires a sizeable vehicle even for driving in the suburbs. I wouldn’t drive a Hummer bc i would not want the SPECTACLE of it, but my husband has a Denali. Personally, i think people should be allowed to drive whatever they want so long as they can afford it and it’s upkeep!
Time to repair it and do a little lawn driving and monster truck action on a Prius or two!
My SUV, which I hope never goes off road, serves the earthly good of being able to transport several children and large amounts of equipment on the trips I make to my shore house every other spring/summer/fall weekend - and the much longer trips I make when bringing my kids to see relatives in other states every month or so.
Not only is it sufficiently roomy, its large and fully boxed frame enhances safety while I am transporting my family.
Were one of the morons who believes that the Garden State Parkway is a drag racing strip to hit me, I would likely win.
If you’re not gonna use the SUV for the reason God created it, buy a damn station wagon.
Not only is it much less roomy and contains space for only two child carseats, a station wagon would not win in the scenario I described. At best it might tie, which is no comfort.
If the gray hairs have the nerve to drive a Viper, you know they got a load going on...
Just one of the many reasons I will never live in DC.
There was an article at Yahoo news a while back titles “hybrids consume more energy in lifetime than Chevrolet’s Tahoe SUV” that might interest all these stoopid neighbors.
They send one of your to the Body Shop.
You send 10 of theirs to the Junk Yard.
as an owner of an SUV i would never vandalize a hybrid or a volvo, but even my kids know there are dang EARTHWATCHERS driving those things and would be embarrassed to be seen in one.
That Hummer is a babe magnet and an eco-vandal magnet. Would have been sweet to have caught the perps in the act
Late Model, Classic or all?
A three foot spoiler from the HS wood shop held on by brackets from their daddy’s Erector Set no less..
Not your vehicle, not your garage, not your problem.
My VW Touareg (13mpg) gets worse gas mileage than a Hummer so I say you should be able to buy any vehicle that you can afford to operate.
Except apparently one that doesn't fit in a garage.
I blame Al Gore and Michael Moore and that idiot, RFK, Jr. and all those Green Tree Hugging FREAKS who forget that this nation is based on Capitalism and FREEDOM.
If you don’t like what I do - and it is not illegal - then look away. Nothing to see here.
I own an SUV and before I bought it - so many people asked me “do you really need something like that” and I said, “Are you paying for it? If not, you don’t get a vote.”
Or something like that with !@#$@ sprinkled throughout.
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