Chicago police were called to a house in Logan Square last Wednesday night after a group of Irish J1 students allegedly destroyed the building they were staying in by smashing windows and throwing furniture.
Police arrived to the house - which had been sublet to the students - around 1.30am and returned at 10.30am the next morning but no arrests were made. Videos and photos on Chicago website dnainfo.com show the extent of the damage.
In one of the videos, taken by a passer-by, one of the students says 'That's our house' before his friend adds 'Not any more, baby.' The same friend had previously said 'I want to smash some more shit.' In another clip you can hear glass breaking in the distance.
A resident of the neighbourhood, told reporters that 15-20 men had been living in the building, with another neighbour describing it as a 'straight-up frat house.'
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For most of the year it is a quiet residential area but during the summer the arrival of the students completely changes the complexion, with Beltran saying:
It's just awful and intimidating seeing like 12 people there drinking, being obnoxiously loud, piles of trash. It's not a welcoming feeling.
It's really scary when you see 12 people being violent in your neighborhood. Whether it's just fooling around or actual intent to destroy something, you get the same feeling, which is: 'Something's not right.'
The house was also taken over by students last year but it will soon be demolished and six two and three bedroom homes built in its place. The property's owner Joseph Kiferbaum told dnfainfo.com 'I can assure them that the new project won't have any new issues. We're going to be putting six new families on the block, no more problem tenants.'
