Palatine artist repairing his horse statue vandalized twice in Chicago
After spending 80 hours designing and painting a dragon-like horse to honor a fallen Chicago police officer in front of The Drake Hotel downtown, Palatine artist Rich Greiwe now has a week and a half of repair work to do after his creation was vandalized not once but twice over the weekend.
Though originally discouraged by the prospect, Greiwe's spirits were buoyed by hearing from the daughter of the police officer whom the statue honors, his wife said.
"She said the wings reminded her of her father in heaven," Kim Greiwe said. "When he heard that, he went right back to work today."
The statue is one of many being displayed throughout the city this month to benefit The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. Funds will be raised by auctioning off the statues after their public display.
The horse Greiwe designed honors fallen Chicago police Lt. Pat McGann and reflects the identity of its sponsor and Greiwe's employer, The Drake Hotel, through its dragon motif.
"I'm one of two house painters at The Drake Hotel," said Greiwe, a 1987 graduate of Palatine High School.
McGann died July 13, 1977, after suffering a heart attack and crashing his patrol car into a utility pole at 59th Street and California Avenue. McGann and other officers had just responded to a burglary in progress call on the 3300 block of West Columbus Drive.
After a person was arrested at the rear of the building, three others were spotted drinking beer on the roof. Two of them climbed down themselves, but a woman in the group had to be assisted. She was lowered into McGann's outstretched arms.
Greiwe's upcoming repair work, in addition to interfering with other scheduled projects, is unfortunate for reducing the time the horse will be on display, he said. The public art presentation is intended to run through Nov. 8.
Though the statues have been on display less than a week already, Greiwe said he's also heard of damage to another near the John Hancock building.
For the damage to The Drake Hotel's horse, police have charged Darius Moss, 25, of the 2300 block of West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago with three felony counts of criminal damage to property. Moss was identified as the person who broke off the statue's wings after climbing onto it about 11:05 p.m. Friday, according to a Chicago police news release.
The tail of the statue also was damaged, having apparently been used as a step to get onto the horse, Greiwe said. Even since Moss's arrest, someone else further damaged the statue by pulling off one of its dragon horns, he added.