Window repairman's crack business plan backfires

Times were so tough for Redlands window repairman Timothy Carl Klenke, police say, that he decided to take proactive measures. So he armed himself with a slingshot and began cruising around the city, shattering at least five windows and car windshields as he went.

“The statements he gave to officers led them to believe he was out to drum up business and was prepared to go out and do some more damage,” Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said this morning.

Witnesses reported seeing Klenke, 50, driving around in his Honda in the areas where the vandalism occurred. When police arrived at his Redlands home, they said, they found a slingshot in his car along with projectiles that matched those used to smash the windows and windshields.

Baker said Klenke, who was arrested Monday, planned to contact the victims later and offer to repair the windows for a fee.

“I’m sure it has something to do with the economy,” Baker said. “Everybody is hurting now.”

-- David Kelly

Photo: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times