Man drove into 14

It is the year of the rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac, and the first time renowned artist Hunt Slonem, whose zodiac animal is the rabbit, displayed one of his glass sculptures in a public space. Fittingly, the piece installed in Wilton Manors is a 14-foot tall rabbit.

The animal is considered to be the luckiest of all in the Chinese zodiac. One man, who is now facing felony charges, considered the rabbit to be a punishment.

Derek Modrok, 49, was arrested Sunday after intentionally driving his car into the blue glass mosaic sculpture, titled "Thunderbunny," a probable cause affidavit said. Modrok told Wilton Manors Police officers that he crashed into the piece at Justin Flippen Park because he believed the city's mayor installed it "to get back at him," the affidavit said, and that the former mayor who the park is named after is responsible for the "birds that we hear."

Shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, officers were called to the park at 2109 Wilton Drive, where two witnesses said they saw a man driving southbound on Wilton Drive before he suddenly and intentionally drove off the road, over a curb and into the statue, the affidavit said.

The man, later identified as Modrok, got out, picked up a piece of his car that fell off and said, "My poor car" before he drove off.

The sculpture's metal base was dented and cracked with several tiles knocked off, the affidavit said. Tire marks through the grass led directly to the statue. City Clerk Faith Lombardo said in an email the statue was appraised at $281,500.

"Thunderbunny" was about a year in the making and comprised of 30,000 hand-cut pieces of glass, Slonem said. The sculpture was installed on May 11, on loan from the New River Fine Art gallery in Fort Lauderdale. Still on display in the park as of Wednesday, the sculpture requires a heavy crane to move it.

Slonem has as many as 20 statues made of painted metals on public display in Louisiana, he said. The rabbit in Wilton Manors is the first glass sculpture Slonem has had in a public space. Nothing like Sunday's incident has happened to his other public works, he said, though an 80-foot mural in the 1 World Trade Center tower was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

"Life is vulnerable," Slonem said. "You just never know what's going to happen, but you would think with something that heavy and huge it would be not so vulnerable. It was quite upsetting and shocking that this happened."

Slonem said he learned of the damage when a reporter called this week, damage that is still being evaluated to determine its extent. Its value has been "completely" affected — "zero value, probably," he said.

"Thunderbunny" was supposed to remain on Wilton Drive for a year before traveling to other locations, which Slonem can't disclose, for upcoming outdoor shows at botanical gardens. It remains to be seen what will happen with it.

Slonem is currently working on other sculptures and said he has no plans in the future to stop showing his work publicly. Maybe pieces even bigger than "Thunderbunny," he said.

"We’ve had great masterpiece paintings of the rabbit for centuries … For such a small creature, you don't see such enormous inspiration from squirrels and chipmunks or mice as much. The rabbit is a very special creature and it's very uplifting and positive to view," he said.

After his arrest, Modrok admitted to also vandalizing a $15,000 sculpture of a popsicle by another artist in nearby Rachel Richardson Park just a few days before driving into "Thunderbunny," the police department said. Modrok said he took photos on his phone of the shattered art, having used a stick to knock it off its base, the affidavit said.

"Again, Modrok explained that he believed the statue was installed by a mayor of Wilton Manors ‘to get back at him,’" the affidavit said.

Modrok also admitted to vandalizing the Justin Flippen Park sign a few days before breaking the popsicle sculpture, the affidavit said. He is facing three felony counts of criminal mischief.

Sign up for email newsletters