[gordyzx9r]

Link to the story in the Chicago Tribune.

For Marine's sendoff, his car is keyed

John Kass
January 3, 2008

Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty -- now on his way to Iraq for his second tour of duty in the war -- took meticulous care of his car.

It is a black two-door BMW, an expensive ride for a young Marine from Chicago, but then, McNulty didn't exactly join up for the big paycheck and luxury vacations.

The 26-year-old McNulty was a trader at the exchange and enlisted in the Reserves after 9/11. He babied his car so much that he had military vanity plates along with a sticker in his window that let people know that a Marine or a Marine supporter drove that car.

But someone didn't like the Marine sticker, or the pro-military plates, and decided to stage an anti-war protest, with a key or hard piece of metal, on the shiny black finish of Sgt. McNulty's car that caused $2,400 in damage.

"It's a really nice car. It's in perfect condition. He keeps it meticulous. And he was going to sell it," said Sgt. McNulty's friend, Tom Sullivan, a college buddy from Loyola University.

The last time Sgt. McNulty was in Iraq, he worked a .50-caliber machine gun from a Humvee. Now that he's going back, he really doesn't need a shiny black BMW that shows dust.

"There wasn't a scratch on his car," Sullivan said.

But there is one now.

It is a big scratch, a particularly long scratch in that black paint, a scratch stretching from the rear driver's side around the back, across the trunk, then up to the passenger's side.

If you have a car, and parked it on the street, surely you've thought about what an angry key could do to it.

According to the Cook County state's attorney's office, it wasn't an accident, but a deliberate key job, not done by some kid or street thug, but by a Chicago lawyer who apparently can't stand the military.

Private attorney Jay R. Grodner, 55, of Chicago has been charged with a class A misdemeanor -- criminal damage to property -- punishable by up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine, said Andy Conklin, spokesman for the state's attorney's office.

Late Wednesday, I reached Sgt. McNulty, who declined to comment for the paper but confirmed the facts in the police report.

And I wanted to get Grodner's side of it because he's been accused but not convicted of anything. So we called all the Grodner numbers we could find -- home and business -- including those on the police report and others in the suburbs and Chicago. Many were disconnected, and his cell phone voice mail was full.

I'd like to ask him two questions:

Why?

And, are you proud?

"McNulty was just coming to pick me up for breakfast, because he was going to training just before deployment," Sullivan said of that morning on Dec. 1 in Rogers Park.

There are several one-way streets near Sullivan's home, but McNulty missed the turn, and rather than drive two or three blocks around, he put the car in reverse and backed up a hundred or so feet. He pulled up in front of his friend's house, rang the bell and Sullivan came downstairs. McNulty then turned around and saw Grodner's hands on his black car.

"Mike says, 'Hey, what are you doing to my car? Open up your hand!'" Sullivan told us. "And [Grodner] goes, '[Blank] you! Just because you're in the military you don't run the roost!'"

There were allegedly many more epithets and cuss words, some allegedly applied to the United States Marine Corps, to the U.S. armed forces and to Sgt. McNulty himself.

"Quite frankly, you don't even look like a soldier. You're a small little [blank]," Grodner said according to Sullivan.

This last bit really bothers William McNulty, who is Sgt. McNulty's brother, and he called me.

"My brother should be commended for not just smashing that guy's windpipe right there for all the stuff he said about our military, and the insults," William McNulty said. "Instead, my brother called the police, as he should have."

According to the police report I read, other investigative accounts and interviews, Grodner was upset to have been accused of purposely scratching the car. So upset, that he accused his accusers of being anti-Semitic.

The Chicago police officer responding to the call didn't take the accusation seriously, according to the report, because he couldn't justify it. And Sgt. McNulty's brother and Sullivan say it is outrageous and nonsensical.

"The officer wasn't going to hear this kind of talk. He put the kibosh on the whole thing," Sullivan said. "So [Grodner] became apologetic."

According to the police report, "The offender denied scratching the victim's vehicle, but did admit to rubbing past it."

Rubbing past it? I guess it all depends on what the definition of "rubbing" is.

That's where it is now, awaiting another court date, set for Jan. 18, after Sgt. McNulty refused to back off and drop the charges in earlier court appearances.

Lawyers know how to drag things out, with continuance after continuance, stalling until complaining witnesses get tired and move on.

But Marines on their way to war don't seek continuances.

And all Sgt. McNulty wanted was a little respect, and the chance to sell that car of his, without a scratch.

And I got this part from another board, but I can't find a link to it.

Anti-Military Lawyer Damages Marine's Car on Eve of Deployment

This ought to make your blood boil. And this Marine should receive a commendation for not kicking the living crap out of the guy...seriously.

Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour). On December 1st, 2007, Mike went to visit a friend in Chicago before deploying to say goodbye. In order to get to his friend's residence, and keep in mind that Chicago is a myriad of diagonal and one-way streets, the front entrance (right way) to the one-way street was blocked. Mike, being a Marine, overcame and adapted by driving around the block to the other end of the street and backing up all the way to his friend's place.

While saying goodbye, at about 11am, he noticed a man leaning up against his car. Mike left his friend's apartment and caught the man keying his car on multiple sides.

After caught in the process, the man told Mike, "you think you can do whatever you want with Department of Defense license plates and tags". (In Illinois you can purchase veteran, Marine, or medal plates. Mike has Illinois Marine Corps license plates.) During the exchange, he made additional anti-military comments.

Mike called the Chicago police and had the man arrested. A citation against the man was issued for misdemeanor criminal damage to private property.

The police report (and I have copies if needed) states:

Victim related to P/O that as he walked back to his vehicle, he observed the offender leaning up against his vehicle and rubbed/dragged his left arm and hand across the passenger side. As offender walked away from victim's vehicle, victim observed a scratch along the rear trunk and passenger's door area where offender dragged his arm and hand over. Victim and witness stopped offender and confronted him. Victim has military plates and decals on his vehicle and offender made anti war and military comments to victim. Upon P/O's arrival to scene, offender denied scratch victim's vehicle, but did admit to rubbing past it. Victim at this time did not sign complaint, because he is leaving tour for military duty. Offender said they accused him of scratching the car because he is Jewish. Offender's statements/responses to P/O's questions unreasonable.
As it turns out, the man is Chicago lawyer Jay R. Grodner, who owns a law firm in the city and has offices in the suburbs.

After sending the car to the body shop, it was determined there is $2400 in damage, making this a felony. Mike went to court Friday morning to collect the damages against Mr. Grodner and file felony charges. Though the damages are over $300 (the amount which determines felony or misdemeanor) Grodner offered Mike to pay his deductible, $100, and have Mike's insurance pay for it.

The Illinois States Attorneys tried to coerce Mike into accepting the offer. Appalled, Mike said he wanted this to be a felony. The state told Mike that it was not worth pursuing felony damage against Grodner because they don't have the time. In addition, the state prosecutors told him that he would never it 'would be difficult to recover the damages' from Grodner because he is a lawyer.

Instead, the State asked Mike if he would accept probation for Grodner. Mike accepted, probation was offered to Grodner, and Grodner declined the offer, saying within ear shot of Mike, "I'm not going to make it easy on this kid". Mike's next court date is tomorrow, Monday, December 31st, to pursue misdemeanor charges against Grodner.

Mike's leave is over on January 2nd when he reports to Camp Pendleton before heading to Iraq.

Jay Grodner knows this and is going to file for a continuance until Mike is gone and cannot appear in court.

By account of the Illinois State's Attorneys, Grodner is likely to get away with defacing Mike's car with no penalty because, 1) Mike is about to deploy to Iraq and will not be available to appear in court, and 2) Grodner is a lawyer and can get out of this very easily.

So, does anyone have any ideas about how to proceed? All peaceful and rational ideas are welcomed. We are contacting the media about this, too.

Please pass this story on to anyone you know that might be able to help.

If the Marine does get deployed, I'm almost positive the Soldier's & Sailors Relief Act would prohibit the case from being thrown out regardless of a continuance and he should still be able to have his day in court when he returns from the Sand Box.

I can't believe this lawyer can't be disbarred for these antics.