Youths in Galliagh stoned the car of a well-known Derry singer, after apparently taking it for a police vehicle.
Thomas McGilloway, 59, was driving his Vauxhall Saloon Cruiser(pictured above) close to the White Chapel roundabout on Thursday evening down to the Galliagh Chemist to collect medication, when a gang of young teens targeted his car.
'I spoke to the police about it, and they seem convinced it's because it's similar to the vehicles they drive," he said.
"They say this has happened before, indeed they have previously advised other drivers to remove aerials from their car-roofs because they make them look too like police cars. I was also told that because I have short hair, that they may have mistaken me for a detective.
"My car has tinted windows - but it has an Elvis logo on the front, so it's quite distinct.'
Mr McGilloway's windscreen was damaged and the roof of the car marked in the incident.
"At least one of them was holding a bag of chips, so I think they may have been coming from the Fish Shop nearby," he said.
"They came out beside the car and one of them took up a stone and smashed the windscreen with it. It will have to be replaced. They were only about thirteen years old, I'd reckon."
Mr McGilloway, who lives in Lavery Fold, says he will now have to change the car - which is less than two years old.
"I got a big shock from it," he says. "Had I lost control of the car, who knows what could have happened.
"I wasn't able to chase after them because of my arthritis. I certainly won't be driving through Galliagh to get my medication again.
"I think other drivers of similar cars should be warned that this is happening - and told to be careful. When I went to the police, they showed me one of their own cars that had a lot of dents in the side where it had been hit by stones. That's so dangerous."
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