Phone box smashed, telephone lines cut at 33rd Ward aldermanic candidate's office on Election Day

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One of the candidates running for the 33rd Ward city council seat is calling recent vandalism "sabotage."

A phone box was smashed and telephone lines were cut on Election Day outside of the campaign headquarters for aldermanic candidate Samie Martinez and 33rd Ward democratic committee member Iris Martinez.

Both said the incumbent's campaign is behind the vandalism.

"This really shows the character of the campaign staff," Samie Martinez said.

Alderwoman Rossanna Rodriguez-Sanchez is outright denying the allegations.

"Nobody in my campaign would ever do that. No, definitely not our campaign," she said.

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Drama played out in the 33rd Ward on Election Day.

"We could not get any incoming calls or make outgoing calls when it came to any situations going on at the polling places," Martinez said.

Rodriguez-Sanchez is running for her second term in office, and described these allegations as baseless.

"I think it's sad that the Cook County Clerk of Court is engaging in baseless claims," she said. "This is to be expected. These kinds of narratives are to be expected."

Iris Martinez said the outage affected tenants living above the office, while Samie Martinez said he feels disheartened by the incident.

I knew it would slow us down as an attempt to sabotage and slow us down," Samie Martinez said. "It means they are scared. They are trying to do anything possible at the very last minute."

Another candidate running for the 33rd Ward seat, Laith Shabaan, released a statement following the alleged vandalism, writing in part, "This election is about the future of our ward and the future of our city. There is no place for this behavior in such a pivotal election to decide the future of our ward."

The Chicago Police Department said no one is in custody as Area Five detectives continue to investigate.