Threatned by my neighbor

[Deanimator]

Not to insult the people who suggested this, but I would never ever invite these people over to go shooting. It's a terrible idea and don't ever let your guard down. People that start this crap are never to be trusted, rational people just don't do this kind of stuff. People are habitual and will always return to their worst habits.

+10,000

Why on EARTH would anybody want to associate with jackasses like that? I exert considerable effort to AVOID people like that. The best way to avoid trouble is to avoid those whom it follows like body odor. If in fact they're cooking meth ABSOLUTELY no good could POSSIBLY come from associating with them.

If I wanted a pet, my first move wouldn't be to start looking for rabid skunks.

 

[stchman]

So your gunfire during the day is upsetting her daughter while their gunfire (which is far closer) does not?

I would have told this woman to get off my property as she is trespassing. Then tell her if you catch her on your property again you will call the police and press charges.

 

[mbt2001]

I do not envy your position at all...

It might be a good idea to hire a PI and get them checked out, if they are felons, then it is an easy enough thing to mention to the deputy that they own firearms. Other than that I would stop plinking / shooting and set up cameras (motion around the house and some other places and game cameras elsewhere).

You say that these folks have threatened you and threatened and intimidated your neighbors? Also you said that they are leasing the land?

Get a lawyer, get the other neighbors on board and sue the land owner to toss these people out. Once you have video and audio of several weeks of their trespassing, discharging firearms, threats and other wonky behavior, I think you might turn that over to the police...

One other point. AVOID THE WOMAN AS IF SHE IS THE PLAGUE. TRY TO ALWAYS HAVE A WITNESS PREFERABLY MORE THAN ONE WHEN SHE IS AROUND. She can literally accuse you of rape and with no evidence you will be arrested and indicted. The motion cameras all over the place would save you here too.

 

[alistaire]

If you can buy the property. Have the current owner evict them without explaining why so you don't get in a fight with them.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

One other point. AVOID THE WOMAN AS IF SHE IS THE PLAGUE. TRY TO ALWAYS HAVE A WITNESS PREFERABLY MORE THAN ONE WHEN SHE IS AROUND. She can literally accuse you of rape and with no evidence you will be arrested and indicted. The motion cameras all over the place would save you here too.

thats messed up, i didn't think they can do something like that.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...One other point. AVOID THE WOMAN AS IF SHE IS THE PLAGUE. TRY TO ALWAYS HAVE A WITNESS PREFERABLY MORE THAN ONE WHEN SHE IS AROUND. She can literally accuse you of rape and with no evidence you will be arrested and indicted. The motion cameras all over the place would save you here too....

Too true, and another good reason to document and report everything. You want to establish a record of their misbehavior. Such a record would help support the proposition that any accusation by her is false and merely part of a continuing (and well documented) pattern of trespassing, attempted intimidation and harassment.

 

[Hollowdweller]

Unless you have someone who stays at your property 24/7 then I would refrain from inciting these people. They could very well shoot you, your animals or burn your house down when there are not any witnesses and get away with it.

When they inititally mentioned it to them I would have probably tried to assert that there were no laws against what I was doing but that to try to be considerate I would have asked for suggestions as to times they felt I could shoot that would cause the least upset.

At the same time as you are trying to get along with them I would be doing opposition research.

I've had to deal with a number of criminal or otherwise troublesome neighbors in the past and I find that the life in any neighborhood of true lowlifes is not extremely long.

Most of the ones I have dealt with have ended up getting kicked out for non payment of rent, going to jail, committing suicide, accidentally burning down their own house or OD'ing.

My most recent bad neighbor ended up going to prison and then somebody burned his trailer down while it was setting empty.

Sometimes the best policy is to not aggravate them but monitor them till you can get THEM in trouble for something wrong and more or less endure till they end up taking care of themselves

 

[Darkninja]

While bear traps and tacks and everything else is funny and would probably be pretty fun... Don't do it.

Be smart about this, if it ever comes to court you need to make yourself look like the good guy, while their the trespassers and what not. One thing I might have missed as I read over the thread pretty quickly, how do you know they are convicted felons?
Also I support the idea of getting the law involved to help you catch them trespassing. Call you deputy friend and see what he suggests in the way of stopping them from trespassing.

 

[Erik M]

Not to insult the people who suggested this, but I would never ever invite these people over to go shooting. It's a terrible idea and don't ever let your guard down. People that start this crap are never to be trusted, rational people just don't do this kind of stuff. People are habitual and will always return to their worst habits.

They're probably cowards and won't do anything, but if they abuse any substances, then anything goes. Don't ever speak to them and watch yourself, they will be unpredictable at all times.

Im not to crazy about inviting them over. I dont want to advertize what things of value I own or let anyone see whats inside my garage or out building. Knowing what they have been arrested for dosent make we want to invite them anywhere near my property or family members.

I thank you all for your sugestions and will definetly take them into consideration. Unfortunately a family member had to be hospitalized last night do to dibilitating illness. I will update you if anything else happens in the near future. I have notified my LEO nieghbor about it so he knows that there will be nights ahead when no one is home on my property. Thank you all again.

I might have missed as I read over the thread pretty quickly, how do you know they are convicted felons?

I dont think I mentioned it, the local news paper prints the arrest report for all police agencies every week, I think they show major convictions from district court once a month. They will look up past articles for a fee. The State of Ky has a website that shows all currently and past inmates county by county, with a mugshot and what the individual was arrested for. I could like the individuals records right now and you'd know everything that they had been arrested for, but I wont. This is a state contracted service free to the public. Advice from relatives that work for law enforcement agencies and the state d.o.t., although not in my county has helped.

 

[Deanimator]

I have notified my LEO nieghbor about it so he knows that there will be nights ahead when no one is home on my property. Thank you all again.

Do you have your lights on timers? If not, you can probably get timers at the local grocery store. You can also set you PC to play movies, music or whatever on a schedule so that it looks like somebody's home. The next time I have to go out of town, I'm going to have a web cam or two running to watch the house.

 

[Buckhannon]

Why not see if there is anyway possible to get to know each other better. Maybe you can work out a schedule for firing weapons, possibly togeather....It seems that good intensions are meant by both sides. No need to slap leather if deep down you both like the same things...

 

[Tim the student]

Why not see if there is anyway possible to get to know each other better. Maybe you can work out a schedule for firing weapons, possibly togeather....It seems that good intensions are meant by both sides. No need to slap leather if deep down you both like the same things...

Are you sure you meant that on this thread? That comment sounds more at home on the other neighbor issue thread.

 

[Cosmoline]

Guys.. you cannot set mantraps anymore. One of these days somebody posting here is actually going to do it and the @#$ will really hit the fan.

 

[flying_gage]

Man traps = Bad. They are messy and a pain and the ass for us poor paramedics to deal with

 

[doc2rn]

I would look seriously at a 4 strand barbed wire fence. Relatively cheap, gets that do not trespass message across and makes a physical barrier to their movement on your land. It will also let you know, if they cut it, that they must be up to something on your property (like someone said you need to make sure they are not cooking/growing stuff in your back yard). Game Cams are a good idea, so are Locust thorns, not specific but naturally made man trap, as well as puttin in a small pig farm on the part of your land closest to their residence 4 or 5 pigs is more than enuff, guy out in back of my uncle started building a sub division and no one would buy his houses because of the smell. He put up a big sign too Big Ron's Pig Farm. Last I knew guy still had the original 5 houses built but not sold.

 

[fog]

""Dirt bike/four wheeler tracks on your property, that seems like a good spot to camo some spike strips. "" bad idea i asked the local sheriff here if i could turn over a harrow to stop tresspassong hunters vehicles and he said i colud get sued for damages because i purposely left a harrow in the way

 

[Autolycus]

Why is everyone assuming these people are drug dealer or drug manufacturers? That doesn't make sense. She called the cops the first time he was shooting. Do you really think they would invite law enforcement to their property if they are? It seems like anyone who lives in a trailer suddenly became a meth dealer or meth manufacturer in the eyes of THR members.

Why not go over there, armed of course, and ask them to come shoot? You could also ask them what times are appropriate for shooting and ask them to do the same. You are not sure it is them trespassing, just assuming that it is them. It could be other people trespassing on your land, did you think of that?

 

[Grey54956]

First, document and report any trespassing. If they are trespassing on your property and are armed, document, report, and press charges if possible. Pursue restraining orders if possible.

For a more long term solution, contact the land lord. If they are disturbing you, or threatening you, he may want them to leave before something unfortunate happens and he gets tied up in the liability tornado. You may also be able to purchase their rented plot.

 

[don]

"You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"- A. Lincoln. "If you come at me with clenched fists, I guarentee you my fist will clench just as fast, but if you say to me let's go to the table and talk, I'll beat you to the table." Author unknown, excerpted from Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People. Just a few words of wisdom to think about.

 

[roynlois]

I am new on here.I had a similar problem from a neighbor. He had cancer and asked me to take care of him. Being a retired nurse, I agreed. My wife and I spent many nights sitting with him. After he died his wife(girl friend) went bunkers. Cursed me out because I could not keep him alive, and then things got nasty. We finally just leave her alone. Do not speak to these people. My Dad always said, never argue with an idiot. People watching may get mixed up as to who is who. Remember to document every incident, no matter small. I wish you luck my friend, you have a hard road ahead of you. Don't loose your cool. They will mess up sooner or later......Roy

 

[Bruno2]

I dont know what to say about this issue . Depending upon how tiresome you grow of the problem you may be able to justify spending some money on it . Anytime somebody threatens to sue you you have an opportunity to sue them over the threat . Go hire an attorney on the grounds that you have been threatened with suit and then when there broke azzes cant hire a better lawyer you can have an asset hearing and garnish there wages until they cant afford the lease . Civil suits are a funny thing I am in one right now that wasnt even a true story , never the less I spent a couple thousand bucks on a lawyer b/c if I didnt and the plaintiff wins it will be a large sum of money that I will be obligated to pay or have my assets seized . I have a pretty good chance of winning and even so I can try to sue for my attorney fees , but , I may not get a judgement to be reimbursed either . Anybody can sue anybody at anytime for anything and then somebody had better come forward with their defense and a good one . I just recently learned that judgement in civil suits cannot be bankrupted out of .

 

[Dr. Fresh]

I can't believe some of you are still suggesting he make friends with these people.

 

[danbrew]

Guys.. you cannot set mantraps anymore. One of these days somebody posting here is actually going to do it and the @#$ will really hit the fan.

No doubt. And then the guy is gonna say "well, I learned about it at The High Road" and the lawyers are gonna come read all the stupid advice that gets posted here (and on every board from time to time). And then they may even notice that editorial control is exercised here in an inconsistent, yet frequent manner. And then somebody else is gonna get sued.

Life just is not fair, is it?

 

[HKUSP45C]

She can literally accuse you of rape and with no evidence you will be arrested and indicted.

This is just, plain, incorrect. Police officers, investigators, prosecutors and judges (as a general rule) want people who have comitted crimes to go to jail.

They do not (as a general rule) want to take the word of every Tom, Dick and Mary who says "He hurt me!" as gospel and throw the accused in the tank forever. (Though like with any circumstance it does, in fact, happen on a statistically insignificant basis)

While I'm sure there will be a bevy of "anecdotal evidence" to back up this claim from several posters (and we all know if it's on the internet it must be true) but, I would say, particularly in cases like battery and rape there is usually some kind of evidence that gets one arrested. Police officers make a living by determining a crime has been committed and arresting the suspected offender. Investigators make a living by finding out "what really happened" before presenting a case to a prosecutor. Prosecutors make a living by getting CONVICTIONS against the people who actually commit crimes. Judges make a living by not having their convictions overturned. (Jury trials are a crap shoot)

At no point in that chain does the word of a random stranger bring enough to bear to warrant a continuance to the next link.

Further, there must be some kind of evidence to get a person indicted, even circumstantial evidence is still evidence. Some random chick yelling "he raped me!" is not enough, in nearly every circumstance, to get a man arrested, indicted and convicted. The criminal justice system just doesn't work that way.

I'm usually very suspect of statements that contain "always" and "never" ideas. Though having witnesses around when confronting ANY person who is obviously "a bit odd" is probably sound advice.

To the OP:

I'll add another vote to game cameras, document everything, secure an attorney and get good legal advice from them.

 

[Deanimator]

I can't believe some of you are still suggesting he make friends with these people.

I don't want "friends" like that. It's one of the things that has kept my interactions with the police to a bare minimum.