I've got a serious problem in the form of a very derranged and dangerous neighbor. I'm hoping someone can help because the county and state police don't seem to be able to.

Here's my story:

We bought our house 2 and a half years ago in a nice middle class neighborhood. At first we had no problems with our neighbors. Approximately 6 months into home ownership it started. The neighbor next to us, middle aged single male, began to scream obscenities and threats out of his window and back door which is across from our bedroom window. These outbursts would occur in the late hours of the night between 1 and 3 am. Sometimes they would continue nightly for about a week then abruptly stop for weeks sometimes months. I've also heard him firing guns in his basement or out his back window in the night. He's threatened me and our dogs with a gun in the back yard, is throwing food (probably poisoned) into our backyard, has verbally threatened to kill the neighbor on the otherside of us and her dog, has 'staked out' our house and confronted my boyfriend at 4 am on his way to work, has followed my boyfriend out of the neighborhood (and driven aggressively) while he (my boyfriend) was on his way to work, has called the fire department claiming that cigarette smoke from our basement is filling his house with smoke, and has yelled things in the middle of the night such as "I'm going to bleed this street worse than the east coast has ever seen".

I'm losing my patience and am at wits end with this guy. I can no longer take my dogs outside off of their leashes because I'm afraid they'll find and eat poisoned food before I see it. We no long allow our child to play in the backyard (she's 5) because of this lunatic, his yelling and abnormal behavior is ruining our lives and endangering our child (not to mention waking her up at night). I've had the police (both state and county) confront him but they keep telling me they can do nothing about it because he's in his own yard or doing these things from within his house. I refuse to sell my property because of this guy. From what I understand he has been hospitalized for being mentally ill and has been arrested and done time for drugs. I believe he is an untreated paranoid schizophrenic suffering from delusions. He yells at things that aren't there, thinks people are watching him, and does many other bizarre things.

Short of installing a security camera with sound outside, what can I do to make this stop. There has to be something out there that says I have a right to enjoy my property and live in peace.

Please help. I'm terribly afraid that he will act on some of these threats.

Check the website of your city and/or county. Most of them have noise ordinances that are very specific. Without knowing your city or county, I can't give you specifics for your location, but typically they say things like:

it shall be unlawful to make, cause or continue to make or cause any excessive, unnecessary or unusually loud noise that either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the city/county.

Often there are time frames included. Some even go so far as to define that "loud noise" is anything that can be heard through walls of another residence, or beyond a distance of a certain number of feet or yards. You'll need to educate yourself about what applies in your location so that you can communicate this to law enforcement should they be called again in the future. When they start to tell you they can't do anything, whip out a copy of the ordinance and ask on what grounds they are refusing to enforce it. Go up the chain of command if you have to - you have the right to request a supervisor.

The threats and gun activity are another matter. Most cities and counties also have specific statutes that forbid the discharge of a firearm within their jurisdiction except in very specifically defined instances like hunting, self defense, or on a firing range. In Maryland, if your neighbor has been convicted of ANY felony, it is a felony for him to even possess a firearm ( § 5-622. Firearm crimes.) If you find that some whacko is threatening you with a gun, and police have been informed yet fail to act (this should ALWAYS be a 911 call!), that's when you start calling the newspaper and tv stations. They eat up stuff like this and would likely provide camera and recording equipment at their cost to catch this guy in the act - even it it was just to confront law enforcement about it as the "zinger" for the 6 o'clock news.

Outside the purview of law enforcement, if he's illegally dumping into your yard, that's a matter for code enforcement officers. Strangely, in many cases like yours, things don't start to get serious with consequences until code enforcement starts issuing civil fines.

Finally, remember that in the big picture, as annoyed as you are with this guy, your fear needs to come first - for your own safety and the safety of your family. While there are ways to help "prompt" the system to act, remember that YOU are going to bear any reaction - if he gets arrested, he'll still likely be coming home an a few days. If he gets fined, he's going to be pissed. Even a restraining order is only a piece of paper - one that will be of little comfort to you when he and his firearm are kicking their way into your home in the middle of the night to express displeasure with you for "harassing him". There might be some short term things you can do to hold him accountable for his actions, but it's a totally different matter as to whether or not any or all of these steps will solve the problem in the long term, and there is the possibility that it could cause things to get much WORSE (and more dangerous) before they get better.

__________________
While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

aardvarc,

Thank you so much for the recommendations and tips. I will certainly look into the noise ordinance laws in my area. We are well aware regarding the gun laws as we are gun owners ourselves (for the purpose of hunting and NOT intimidation). Since the police do not have just cause to enter his house (or so they say) they have not been able to verify his possession of firearms which I'm almost certain he is not allowed to own. In the past law enforcement hasn't even fully checked his record to verify that he is allowed to own a weapon even though they've responded to my calls of gunshots coming from within the house. I'm not crazy. I hunt and handle firearms myself, therefore I'd like to say I'm a pretty good witness as to what it sounds like when one is being discharged.

I personally need to begin another journal of events documenting everything this guy does. After getting discouraged I discontinued the logging of events and discontinued contacting law enforcement because I wasn't getting anywhere.

With that said, I'll educate myself on the noise ordinance, begin documenting occurrances again and if I still do not get the help I need from law enforcement (who is all to familiar with this guy) then I have no problem blowing it up and making it a media issue.

I also recognize the dangerous position this could put us in. It's gotten to the point where my boyfriend no longer sleeps in the bedroom, he sleeps on the couch in the living room just in case Mr. McCrazy (as I call him) does decide to bust in bearing arms. Just for documentation purposes, I hold no one on this board responsible for anything that results from posts (or their posts) on this forum. I am an educated person and am just looking for suggestions to better my situation. What I decide to do is my decision alone. I just wanted to make sure that was said.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Hello Molley Whopper,

I would start to research your states laws on assault. Assault does not necessarily require any physical contact; that is battery. A lot of states, however, merge the two into a single designation referred to as assault or perhaps another designation. The definition of assault is the putting of another in genuine fear of their personal safety. As this implies, certain threats qualify. Look up your states specific language and criteria, and once you get the fuller implications of it, if possible, align with neighbors when he goes into one of his fits, and call the police again. Of course, any evidence by recording or other means will support your assertion, but having other neighbors present to tell the story is convincing as well. I recommend that you keep calling the authorities every time it happens.

Also, save the food he puts over the fence in your freezer. The law, while being limitied in what it will do regarding a person, has no reservation about asserting animal cruelty laws. One might even call animal control when this happens again. But again, you will need some convincing evidence that he is the one doing it. I wouldn't' think twice about the expence of some surveilance equipment. You can get that kind of stuff quite cheaply now, and it will hook up to your computer (an outdoor version of a nanny cam.)

Also, if your neighbors also hear him discharging firearms in his home, a call can be made in the guise of his safety, or his guests (whether he has any or not.) If you have information that he has been hospitalized for mental illness, he has been released in the belief that he is not a threat to himself or others. But with some evidence to the contrary, and a well placed phone call - perhaps with an assertion of someone's liability in releasing him - you may be able to have him arrested as a danger to himself and others. In addition, the second of the links below regards "reckless endangerment." It is quite fitting regarding his firing his guns.

Remember, all legal actions find their force through the presentation of convincing evidence. The cops cannot do much without it, as it goes against civil rights to enter or search his residence without probable cause that a crime has been or is being commited. Let alone without warrant. But use your head and your wits, you can beat this freak by planning to beat this freak, and by using the means that the law does allow. I'm not suggesting the concocting of a false story or anything of that nature, but use what you do have in an effective way.

To aid you in your research, I have provided links to your state's laws. Also, Marylands statutes are not visible by title/article on this link, so some reading on your part is necessary, good hunting and good luck,

Lawford - see below:

http://mlis.state.md.us/asp/web_statutes.asp?gcr&3-202

http://mlis.state.md.us/asp/web_statutes.asp?gcr&3-204

Lawford,

Thank you as well for your suggestions. Thus far the primary problem we are having is some solid evidence. We know he's been knocking on our bedroom window late at night and placing possibly tainted food in our yard but we have yet to catch him doing it. This is the pretense for law enforcement's lack of, well, enforcement. Everytime they're here I tell them everything he's done and I always get the same response. They throw up their hands and say, "Sorry, we didn't see it, we can't do anything". They're always telling me to get a peace order as well. I don't really see what purpose that will serve considering once again, they will not physically see him breaking the order.

I've started keeping the food and freezing it. Last week it was eggs in the back yard, today it was a nice hunk of pork chop almost in the same place as the eggs. I asked my boyfriend if Mr. McCrazy was attempting to make us breakfast...yea, that was my sad attempt at finding humor in a very bad situation.

Having a degree in mental health/illness I've already tried to have him carted off to the hospital stating he's a danger to himself and others. He's acted OBVIOUSLY delusional and paranoid in front of the police but they refused to 'irritate him more'. I suspect they didn't want to deal with the paper work. The officers that have come here know and have stated to me that they know there is something wrong with this guy yet they fail to act.

Looks like I'll be investing in a 'nasty neighbor cam'.

Thanks again!!

To my GREAT displeasure, my county does NOT have a noise ordinance. The City does though. Unfortunately I live just outside of City limits. Any other suggestions regarding the obscenities being yelled late at night?

Disposeable cameras for under $5.00 are great for documenting a stalker's actions (save your receipt). Keep one by the front door, or in other areas of the home where the stalker has a history of "infiltration" - in your case, the bedroom if he's been knocking on the window. Immediately take a photo of the front page of the newspaper for that day to "date" each camera - in fact, take a few with different lighting just to be safe (any pics on the roll have to have occurred on or after that day). If you later get pics of your stalker on these cameras, contact police and find out if THEY want to develop the roll, or if they want you to handle this. (Some agencies, obviously, are more proactive and helpful in these cases than others.) If you are getting the film developed on your own, ask for a print sheet or other form (remember the old negative strips?) that will show the photos in the order they appeared on the roll.

If you're applying for a restraining order, this can help provide at least a well thought out yet non-provokative attempt on your part to show what's happening. If you've already GOT an order, having your own evidence will allow you to go to the court directly to address the violation of that order, even if the police want to shrug and look the other way.

__________________
While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

Hello again,

Only to record it. Also, if he is knocking on your window at night, this is trespass. While it is illegal to set up a man trap intended to inflict harm, perhaps a well placed bucket of oil based based wood stain or some clothing dye, could provide some evidence. Make sure you set it up close to the window. Do you have a fence? I know this all sounds more than a bit petty, but then, so is a neighbor knocking on your window at night. Also, there are some pretty neat cameras out now, intended to track the movements of wildlife, that flash a still photo by motion detection. If you can figure out where he is crossing the property, some fishing line attached to some cans may send a message as well.

But don't do this stuff just to annoy him, make sure it provides useful proofs of his identity. Finally, if the law continues to do nothing, you can file civil suit on a variety of issues. He must show up, then your proofs will be seen by a judge, and a civil judge has power to force Psych evaluations and anger management, and forward recommendations to law enforcement, among other things.

If I were you, I would definately speak with an attorney prior to doing anything. This will keep you safe in the eyes of the law, and further keep you from spinning your wheels. Further, it doesn't necessarily involve much more than a consult initially, so it shouldn't break the bank. Finally, keep your sense of humor, but don't underestimate this guy. He is exhibiting signs of paranoia, which means that he could be dangerous if pushed, and is likely more aware of the law than you, and no doubt one sneaky son of a bitch. But he is imbalanced, and that provides some weakness that even he is unaware of. A judge or lawyer will know how to expose that weakness. Good luck again,

Lawford

Dang...I'm starting to think Maryland's laws SUCK. There's no state statute addressing noise from an individual (it all applies to construction, garbage collection, airplanes, operating businesses, etc.). Even the "covenant of quiet enjoyment" only applies to tenants in single or multi-family housing and is the responsibility of the landlord - but not to actual homeowners. Worse, the only specific mention of discharging a firearm falls under doing it from a car, and even then only in a reckless manner, leaving us with the very general statute of "reckless endangerment" ( § 3-204), which is incredibly broad and which is in my opinion a contributing factor to the lack of police action you're experiencing.


I'm in agreement with Lawford (love ya!) - an assault charge would likely be appropriate, but police will probably settle for reckless endangerment if you push the issue.

By Maryland's definitions (quite different than here in Florida, and again, every state is different): Assault is the attempted touching of another person, without that person’s consent, and includes the act of placing someone in fear of an intentional touching. Battery is the unlawful and offensive touching of another person without that person’s consent. “Assault” encompasses the crimes of assault, battery, and assault and battery.

__________________
While pointers can be helpful, ultimately the number one lesson in any legal action is: don't take legal advice from books, family, friends, co-workers, police officers, grocery clerks, web sites, or people on legal message boards. The only person who can give YOU legal advice is YOUR attorney.

http://www.aardvarc.org

Now that you guys (or gals) mention it, we do have a wildlife camera we use for hunting. It snaps pics every 10 seconds that can be uploaded on to a PC. We use it during hunting season to see how many deer (or black bears for that matter) are coming to our tree stand. I'll have to talk to my boyfriend to see if there's a place we can attach it that would be easy for us to get to but difficult for him. This may give us some photographic evidence of him crossing property lines or throwing stuff into our yard.

Thanks for the reminder!! If you think of anything else please feel free to post it and I'll watch the thread.