Gee, you're the neighbors I want!

The BBQ Pit
#1

I posted here about my moms neighbors.

She did call the city about the garbage stench - they came out and ticketed the neighbors. I called child protection on the toddler sleeping in the shed, but at this time they can’t do anything but note it. If anyone calls CPS again they will investigate. (Note: I am a mandatory reporter. The peeing in the yard I can overlook. Sleeping in an unventilated shed? No).

Sunday afternoon Mom was mowing her back yard when she was yelled at to shut it off. Thinking it was my nephew still in his guard uniform she glanced at the guy, nodded, and kept mowing. The guy came closer and she realized it was not nephew coming to help, but rather a cop with his gun drawn. Turning off the mower she realized there was six cops, guns drawn, yelling at her to not move.

Let me note: Mom is a tiny thing. 5’1", maybe 100#, and 70 years old. She’s also starting to deal with senility issues.

Someone called 911 and reported a fight and shots fired at her address. She asked who reported such a thing - they said someone on a card phone - does she have one? She had NO idea what a card phone is (still doesn’t). They ended up going through every room and closet in her house to make sure everything was kosher.

While she was waiting for the police to tromp through her house - "AND THEY HAD THEIR SHOES ON!! - she looked out the kitchen window to see one of the neighbor kids looking at her and laughing. She pointed that out to one of the police, but by the time he got outside, the kid had taken off.

When Mom was telling me about that she mentioned her mailbox was open on Saturday, which confused her (“I’m sure I closed it”). She has some OCD issues, which leads her to checking everything 2 - 3 times to make sure its’ closed/locked. Her leaving a mailbox open is tantamount to my leaving a cheesecake untouched. Usually she is there when the mail carrier arrives, but Saturday she wasn’t. She has no idea whether they have been taking her mail, but she did say that over the past few months a few letters she was expecting have “disappeared” and a gift from her brother-in-law never showed up. Because of the senility issues which she knows she has, she didn’t want to say anything.

I know it’s just conjecture on our behalf. But the mail missing started not too long after the last time Mom told them to quit urinating against her fence.

So a huge fuck you, neighborinos. 12 against 1. Mom has been in her house for 26 years, and thanks to you and your residing next door for less than a year she is afraid. She can’t enjoy the yard she and Dad worked so hard on due to the stench of unrine and garbage. She can’t relax in her front yard because the eldest woman will come out and screech at her. Fuck you sideways.

#2

Wife of veteran letter carrier here. Missing mail? Suspected thievery? Contact your local postmaster toot suite, who will sic the Postal Inspectors on your problem neighbors. They are now toast. You do not fuck with the U.S. Mails.

They can also assist your mom in getting a USPS-approved lockable mailbox, which work like this, or a PO Box.

#3

Ferchrissake! She could have gotten hurt! Can you go to the police station and explain what’s going on so the cops have a heads-up? Or write them a letter – something.

It sounds like your mom could use a housemate, or a health aide, or someone checking on her regularly. Who knows what those fuckwad neighbors will try next?

Damn!!!

#4

Seconded. It’s time to introduce these asshats to the meaning of the words “federal offense.”

#5

That sucks. The fraudulent 911 call may be some kind of offense, too. And with the calls on tape it’s not like it would be impossible to investigate and trace it to the neighbor kids, if that’s who it was.

#6

I’ll third sic’ing the postal inspectors on these jokers. Also, this sounds like the kind of thing that the local news media might be interested in doing a story on. Ours seems to eat up this sort of “elderly woman minding her own business wronged by neighbors; police do nothing!” story.

#7

Card phone: Prepaid minutes, no account linked. Possible to trace it to the 7-11 it was bought at, but if the kid paid cash…

Of course, that’s only if that’s the only call made on that phone.

#8

OK. I think you need to get some help for your mom. I would be very afraid for her. Not that the neighbors will do something directly to her; from your description, they seem too sneaky to try anything overt. But I would bet that they will absolutely continue the little games that they can get away with. If you call CPS, they’ll make a false 911 call. It’s not going to get better, EVER, as long as they are there. You and your mother are going to have a fight every time you turn around.

Please call in the big guns now. The police have been there once for a false call. I don’t know what kind of burg you’re in, but if there’s anyway to get to know them better, I certainly would. I’d start by going in and complaining about the mail / mailbox issue. Yeah, I know, it’s the wrong place. But they’ll have a record of you on hand for the next time they get a false call. Establish a rapport. The police will come to know what’s going on and who is responsible for it.

As for the mail; once you talk to the police, and they send you to the postal inspectors, follow up that day. Do not delay. I’d seriously think about taking tomorrow off, even at the cost of a day’s pay (if that applies).

These folks have already given you the absolutely clear signal that they will do anything in their power to harass you. The only good news is that their power is limited; the only hope for the future is that their power will become more and more limited the quicker you act.

Good luck,
-Geek

#9

If you have no idea who made the call, I agree, it’s a stumper. But if you are pretty sure it’s the neighbor’s 12 year old, and the call on tape sounds just like him, it’s not such a mystery.

#10

Make sure she tests every single option she looks at by sticking her own hand in the opening to see if she can reach the bottom. If she can, pass it up. I tested more than a dozen and could get my hand all the way inside almost every single one, which makes the locking feature completely useless. This is the one we ended up with (though we bought it locally, not through that online vendor).

I’m so sorry she’s going through this. Is there a homeowner’s association? If so, perhaps a call to them is in order, too. I wish her the best of luck. Keep us posted so we know when the rotten neighbors are forced to move out!

#11

This made me think of something – to really get to know the local police officers and build a rapport with them, your mom could look into whether her local police department offers a “Citizens Police Academy” and sign up for the next session. Here are some examples from the Minnesota area:

Rochester Citizen Police Academy
Sartell Metro Citizens Police Academy
Prior Lake Citizens Police Academy
St. Paul Citizen Police Academy

Don’t be intimidated by its title – it’s primarily classroom study. Ours also offered a ride-along and an evening at a real firing range, but every activity is voluntary and can be sat out if one isn’t comfortable with it. It’s a wonderful program. Something like this could be of great benefit to her on any number of levels.

#12

A surveillance camera would so help because of the habitual problem behavior. I would try to set one up covering the mail box and the yard to record the defecation, peeing, and theft that goes on. Call the cops when you have enough evidence spanning days of these activities. You don’t want to alert them right off the bat that their illegal activities are being recorded. look into local ordinances defining quantity and relationship of house occupants that can live in a single family residential home. I’ll bet they are housing too many people. It sounds like the kids might eventually do something they would get away with back home that is dangerous to your mother.

#13

This is horrible. I wish I had some good advice, but it looks like you’ve got some here to work with. I hope you keep up up to date.

#14

You are a far better person than I.

Mysterious house fires happen to trashy neighbors all the damn time, imo.

#15

I second everything that has been said, rapport with the cops, report to post office, get a locking mail box and get a surveillance camera. They have many inexpensive cameras these days, there’s nothing like catching the little twerps on films.

#16

Oh, and put in a privacy fence and grow a nice fragrant vine on it.

#17

I’ve said it before … if arson weren’t such a great solution to so many problems, it wouldn’t be illegal.
:slight_smile:

#18

Not a vine. Plant rosebushes. Rosebushes with exquisitely-beautiful blossoms… and nice long thorns.

#19

Many years ago, a friend told me that he’d read an article (Scientific America? Popular Science? something like that) saying that the Japanese had developed a bush for planting around their secure installations (they wanted something that looked nicer than chain link fence with razor wire). According to him, the thing grew very, very fast, had long (6 inches or so) and very sharp thorns, and the canes were so strong and tangled that a chainsaw was required to cut it back. Wish I knew what it was (or whether it actually exists), because it sounds like it would be an … interesting solution. Not as fragrant as the roses, but pointer.

#20

No, no; poison ivy. That’ll teach 'em to whip their little dicks out against her fence! :smiley: