HAMMOND, Ind. — Common council members in Hammond voted in favor of an ordinance Monday that will require all gas stations in the city to close overnight.
In a 7-2 vote, council members passed the ordinance Monday night at City Hall. The vote was delayed last month.
On July 26, a 22-year-old man was critically wounded at a Speedway gas station in the 6800 block of Calumet Avenue.
The Northwest Indiana Times reported that a man was carjacked at gunpoint at a Luke’s gas station in the 5100 block of State Line Avenue on Sunday. Additionally, a gas station in the 1400 block of Indianapolis Boulevard was robbed on Friday.
The ordinance was drafted after a Chicago man was shot and killed at the same Luke’s station in late June.
Beginning on Nov. 1, all 37 gas stations in the city will be required to close from midnight to 5 a.m.
An employee at a Hammond gas station told WGN News that the ordinance could cost people their jobs.
“The people that are only available to work overnights, people with children, there’s all kinds of reasons, so they’re going to lose their employment,” said Gerri Spencer.
The ordinance would allow any gas station to petition for an exception to the midnight to 5 a.m. closure rule. However, gas stations would be subjected to a separate citation for every day it’s in violation.
Hammond police chief Andy Short and other officers voiced their opinion at the meeting in support of the ordinance.
