Violent Neighbor - No Police Protection - What do I do?

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Furthermore, he has a wife to protect. Her safety should be his primary concern, not his pride, not his rights, not solving the problems of the world.
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While my main argument was based on principle, my ancillary argument was based on practicality. That moving whenever you had an obnoxious neighbor wasn't realistic. What if he encountered a similar neighbor at the next place? Or the next? Managing the safety of oneself or one's family consists of balancing risks and costs. You may suffer the expense of a move and end up no better off safety wise. Obviously, in the OP's risk/reward tables, moving is not an option and I have no option but to take his word for it.

And while I in no way expect and/or suggest he is/be responsible for anyone else's safety, what about the little old lady next door? She's likely more susceptible to intimidation than the OP. If he left that means she'll bear the brunt of this jerk's behaviour and I bet she has less resources to find a new place than the OP does. That's not really the OP's problem, but I would argue that the fact that we're so reluctant to stand together with our decent neighbors, emboldens the bad ones to sully our lives and neighborhoods.
 
Has he ever verbally threatened your wife?

You mentioned he said something to you, but what about the wife?

Also, take some self-defense classes (karate, judo, etc...) and hit the gym with cardio and/or weights.

A little self confidence could go a long way to handling this situation with a clearer mind.

I also think any kind of pepper spray or mase is a bad idea. Call the cops next time, and if he starts beating on the door, stay on the phone with 911 and pray he doesn't actually make it thru the door, because if he does, it will get ugly,,, one way or the other.
 
bogie

Sorry for your problem,

My best advice is to pack-up and move. Do it right now find another place.

After reading your story I do not thing a gun is the answer, I think evading this guy is the answer.

Hold your land lord responsible, file a small claims suite, call in to the NARC unit of the local police and talk about drugs. Contact legal aid and see what else you can do.

So,

1st Stop confronting this guy, you will lose at some point.

2nd Hold your landlord and the police accountable.

3rd MOVE, start right now.

The general rule of law for self-defense is

A predator must have or reasonably appear to have:

the ability to inflict serious bodily harm or death upon me. (He is armed)

the opportunity to inflict serious bodily harm. (distance, body type, position)

his intent indicates that he means to inflict serious bodily harm or death upon me. (mere words are not enough).

To use self defense as a relief from criminal jeopardy you must not be viewed as a mutual combatant, by your story YOU are, and buying a gun would simple add another link in the chain of criminality.

Sorry, I know this is not what you wanted to read.

Good Luck & Be Safe
 
Find out if PA has what is referred to as a "constructive eviction", i.e. you can evict yourself for cause such as you describe. If so you may by state law recoup expenses from your apartment complex. Contact a lawyer now and start documenting, video taping and audio taping everything. I beg you not to confront this bully with a firearm after contacting a forum. Just read what you have read back in court when and if you sit there.
 
vtoddball said...in the OP's risk/reward tables, moving is not an option and I have no option but to take his word for it.
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And yet that piece of advice continues to be the most frequently offered here.

Move every time you encounter a jerk neighbor? I truly wonder how many times the posters offering that sage advice have moved themselves?

Simply save up two months rent and a damage deposit (let's say $2,000) while keeping your rent and all your other bills current with your $12/hr job, pack everything, find all your friends that love to move furniture, hump it all out of there and into the new place, and - Voila! - problem solved!

Yeah, right...
 
And yet that piece of advice continues to be the most frequently offered here.

Move every time you encounter a jerk neighbor? I truly wonder how many times the posters offering that sage advice have moved themselves?

Simply save up two months rent and a damage deposit (let's say $2,000) while keeping your rent and all your other bills current with your $12/hr job, pack everything, find all your friends that love to move furniture, hump it all out of there and into the new place, and - Voila! - problem solved!

Yeah, right...
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Exactly I don't get this line of thinking at all.
What happens if the next place has another bully/jerk/nut/crazy?
What about the next?
What about the next?

Eventually landlords will simply NOT rent to you period. I own a rental property and research renters rent history. Someone who moves 2-3 times in a year or two is a liability. I simply won't rent to them. Being a landlord is a business and everyone time a renter leaves it cost money. Renters not staying more than 2 years generally are a waste of time/money/resources.

The same people advocating that the OP run likely are the ones lamenting how "[insert neighborhood] use to be a good area 10 years ago".
 
OK will I didn't read many other posts due to time crunch but... In PA you need to go to the County Sherriffs office or the County Courthouse and apply for your concealed weapons permit...

As for a hand gun I ain't too sure thats a good Idea at this moment..you live in an appartment, say you get a first time gun owners permit and blast holes through the door!! Then you are risking injury to others in the apartment...

Sounds like this guy is a physical type...Take classes on firearm handling and safety..look around some rod and gun clubs in PA offer this...In the mean time buy a decent taser and if Mr. Physical is in his mood and catches you outside the apartment, chances are he will try and push or shove you at the start of confrontation....and let me tell you a taser will teach him a better lesson then a loaded handgun...Remember the use of a handgun is the last resort option....just because he pounds on the door doesn't give you the right to kill him..chances are he is unarmed and outside which means you get a murder charge.
 
Using a taser to "scare" someone is also a good way to go to jail.

Stay away from the fellow.

Retreat.

Retreat.

Retreat.

And if he strikes you, or threatens you in front of witnesses, he'll be the one going to jail.

FWIW, I suspect that there are a LOT of dead men out there whose girlfriends thought that they'd "scare" them with the little purse pistol they had... .25s will kill a man dead too...
 
If standing up to this kind of idiot is such a good idea, why not just shoot him in the back some night in the parking lot?

It seems to me the OP has two choices. He can cut his losses, or he can stick it out. I suppose a big part of the choice is based on whether he really wants to live in the place otherwise. Some people do not have a lot of choices for various reasons and either can't move, or would find it very inconvenient.

It appears from reading the OP that the OP may have contributed to the situation. Perhaps not deliberately, but he has not really helped himself. If he plans to stick it out, a heart to heart with the landlord (that probably is not the on-site manager if any) is in order first.

Its tough to suggest a course of action when only one side of the situation is being described. I am not suggesting the OP is the BG in this, but if the cops came and refused to do anything as he claimed, I suspect there is a little more to the story than is being admitted. And if that is the case, than any advice given is likely to be at least somewhat off base.
 
Tell the cops you think there might be a meth lab there. That should get their attention.
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I think the cops might want to have a serious chat with you after they found no meth lab.
 
Don't be a dumbass

You said you cannot move financially. I would advise you to look at that again and try to figure it out. However, if it still seems you cannot leave...

I would try to work it out with the guy, but if you do not think it would be possible to call him to ask him to turn it down...

Get a lawyer. Lawyers are the most destructive weapons on earth. I call my mine an "assault lawyer" because he has the shoulder thing that flips up. However, if you cannot get a lawyer (and I cannot imagine how you would not be able to afford a lawyer when you could buy gun(s))...

Buy a simple single or double barrel shotgun. Buy a makarov pistol. Get CHL. Call cops and owner next time you hear loud music after that has been completed. lather rinse repeat. If the man starts hurling abuse, call cops and owner. If the man starts to break in, call cops and owner. If the man breaks in, STOP HIM. At no point should you have said anything to him. No "I have a gun" or "I am calling the cops" or "you are a %#@$@#@". Do not pump the slide of a shotgun to scare him off.

If you warn someone that you have a gun, they will immediately remember the first rule of a gunfight. They may even remember the second.

:wq
 
I would not move. The world is full of A-Holes, there's no getting away from them completely.

warning:shouting about to commence:

DO GET A GUN. DON'T THREATEN HIM. DO NOT CONFRONT.

DO GET A DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER ($25 and up at Radio Shack)OR USE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY. KEEP FRESH BATTERIES IN IT.

NEXT TIME THERE IS POT SMOKE OR LOUD MUSIC, CALL THE POLICE AGAIN.

AFTER THE POLICE LEAVE:

RECORD THE VERBAL BARRAGE OF THREATS AND BANGING AT YOUR DOOR.

THEN CALL THE POLICE BACK AND PLAY IT FOR THEM.

PRESS CHARGES.

GET A RESTRAINING ORDER.

IF HE COMES IN YOUR HOUSE AGAINST YOUR WILL, PEPPER SPRAY HIM IN THE FACE AND BEAT HIM LIKE RED-HEADED STEP-CHILD, OR SHOOT HIM IF ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Shouting over.

If he starts trying to kick in your door, maybe let your wife hold the pepper spray and you hold the gun. Either way, it isn't going to go well for this bully if he kicks in your door. Maybe even keep a bat handy in case a few good whacks is necessary after the OC spray, and prior to having to shoot him.
 
Call law enforcement - thats what they get paid the big bucks for lol. Other than that get yourself a good folder knife and/or OC spray like forementioned. I dont believe you should use a situation like this to justify purchasing a firearm. Now on the other hand - if you want to protect yourself from a "real threat" - by all means....
 
A short muse on the concept of being armed...

Here's the concept: You are a lowlife. You are a scumbag. You are lower than whalebleep. Your mama, and the rest of your family, well, they're worse.

Oh yeah... you're a coward too. Take that!

And you're pretty much okay with that. After all, the fellow who is telling you all this doesn't know you, your mama, or the rest of your family. And they know nothing about the status of your bravery card... So it just doesn't matter. They're just trying to manipulate a situation, and get you to do something.

So own the situation yourself.

And you smile, and walk on. Because when you take responsibility for your safety by becoming an armed citizen, you also have to give a pass to fighting for honor.

Sticks and stones can break your bones, and may be met with lethal force.

Names and bluster, however, will never hurt you, and you should walk away. Because if you respond to the words and bluster with even a perceived threat of lethal force, you just escalated the situation, and YOU are at fault.

When you own and/or carry a gun, you MUST be the levelheaded fellow. That is NOT an option. Just smile, and consider that the guy who is getting in your face is eventually going to pick on someone a LOT dumber than you are.
 
Maestro Pistolero said +1

Most people just cant move on a whim, Final months rent + security deposit +1st and Last?

In most instances half a months rent will get you a nice Firearm!

Record any thing you want in your own home!
 
Okay, here what you should do in just 30 easy steps......

1. Stop confronting him.

2. Buy a handgun.

3. Buy a rifle.

4. Buy a shot gun.

5. Get yourself some mace, pepper spray, etc.

6. Get a baseball bat.

7. Buy a tricky door jamb.

8. Take some karate classes.

9. Buy a video or audio or whatever recorder and record every nasty thing he says/does.

10. Call the cops every time he messes with you.

11. Call your landlord every time he messes with you.

12. Check your local laws on the legal self defense options available to you.

13. Rack your shotgun a lot (Clack-Clack! always scares the hell out of them) when he's making noise.

14. Shoot him if he comes through your door after breaking it down. Then mace/pepper spray him and commence to wail on him with the baseball bat.

15. Buy a taser.

16. Don't use your taser because you'll get in trouble.

17. Don't threaten to shoot him through the door because you'll get in trouble.

18. Get a lawyer to mess with him.

19. Go to the rough part of town and hire Guido and his Goons (sounds like a grunge band, no?) to kneecap him.

20. Don't open the door for him.

21. Retreat (to the 10th power) every chance you get.

22. Sneak into his place and put some saltpeter in his freaking bodybuilder's powdered creatine - that should calm him down a bit.

23. Stand up to him, you owe it to yourself and society at large.

24. Don't stand up to him, you're just escalating the situation.

25. Call the cops and tell them he's cooking drugs, then prepare to get charged and arrested for being an idiot.

26. Find out his mother's name, call her and tell her junior needs a spanking.

27. Buy him some beer and become his best friend. Sit on the rug at his place, join hands and sing freaking Kumbaya until you both get hoarse.

28. Get a concealed weapons license.

29. Don't buy a handgun, shotgun, rifle, carbine, mace, pepper spray, baseball bat, taser, etc. Those things can get you in trouble.

30. Rent a U-Haul and move.

:cool:

Man, if 5 pages of suggestions hasn't thoroughly confused you by now - then get the dude into your apartment and make him read this whole thread in its entirety. If that won't make him leave you alone - nothing will.

At that point, see item #30 again.
 
Record any thing you want in your own home!
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In what state is that the law?

Interestingly, PA and MT are two states where it would generally be illegal to record him w/o his consent.
 
I cannot imagine how you would not be able to afford a lawyer when you could buy (a) gun.
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Let's see...a decent used revolver can be had for about $350. Most lawyers in my town charge about $350/per hr. Do the math.

I'm not suggeting for a moment these are interchangeable or even comparable solutions...I'm just sayin'...
 
1. Buy a can of mace and put it by the door.
2. Get a permit to carry concealed. A 9mm single stack is preferrable. Carry it.
3. Call the cops and describe the situation. Ask what kind of force you may put up against him. Ask what rules apply if he comes into your home uninvited. Ask what rules apply if he jumps you bare handed outside your home.
4. Ask your neighbors to call management and complain about the mad man. It doesn't pay off for you to complain to the management if they don't react, or you could become "the problem" in their eyes.
5. Reality has a way of punishing idiots in the long run. Lay low. Be cautions.
 
And if you have to shoot the SOB, you're gonna pay for about a half-year's tuition for some lawyer's kid to go to a good college.

Karma will bite the fellow. Stay out of the way.

There are times to be aggressive. This isn't one of them.
 
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