Violence is not the answer

Small claims court, mediation, arbitration, Human Rights Tribunals are complicated, expensive and frustrating. However, that is the system we have and as I say many times on this website, if the condo is a pain, sell and get out.

Vandalizing the directors car, writing profanity on the treasurer's door or jamming the garbage chute, though not unknown, does no good and can lead to criminal charges.

Couple’s home torched after lengthy dispute with neighbours   Part 1

North York condo board president’s home target of arson        Part 2

United States

Oak Lawn man upset about roofers threatens to shoot condo president

Old feud fueled shotgun-toting woman, says threatened lawyer

Man accused of shooting up condo after nakedness call faces judge

HOA dispute has escalated to police, private security, lawsuit

Citrus Springs HOA board members brawl during Christmas party

Police investigating after condo director gets threatening, racist letter

Dispute among condo board members lands Boca man in jail

Florida HOA security guard accused of hitting resident with patrol car

Man arrested in shooting of homeowners association president

Trial opens in attempted-murder case over squirrel dispute

They wanted to impound his vehicle. He threatened them with a rifle

Delusional killer who thought his condo was bugged gets 70 years

Natrona county HOA President arrested for assault with pickaxe   Part 1

Man accused of pick-axe assault, urinating in gas tank                   Part 2

Texas HOA president accused of threatening teens with gun

Serial Defecator? Elderly St. Petersburg man targeted by poop vandal

Rarely, very rarely a condo owner goes postal. In fact, in the last six years, this is the only incident of extreme condo violence in Ontario I am aware of.

Couple’s home torched after lengthy dispute with neighbours
Vidya Kauri, CP24.com
21 October 2014

A North York couple rushed out of their home overnight when someone smashed their front window with a hammer and lit their kitchen on fire.
The Ontario Fire Marshall has been called in to investigate what police are now confirming is an arson.

A husband and wife who own the two-storey home on Grandravine Drive were sleeping upstairs when a loud bang from the main floor kitchen woke them up around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. They ran downstairs to find the kitchen ablaze and managed to escape along with their two cats and dog.

Toronto police say that a fire that broke out in this North York home around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 21, 2014 is "suspicious." The homeowners were allegedly in a dispute with their neighbours, according to residents in the area. The couple in the home managed to escape, along with their pets, and were treated for minor smoke inhalation.

Toronto Fire was able to extinguish the fire quickly after they arrived. Platoon Chief Trevor Trotter said the house was full of smoke and there were signs of a “suspicious nature.”

Sources at the scene say a hammer was found in the garden outside the smashed kitchen window and butane cans were found inside the home.
The homeowners were treated at hospital for minor smoke inhalation and damage from the fire was contained to the kitchen.The kitchen, however, was gutted by the flames.

A witness told police he saw a person at a window outside the home just before the fire started. Police are looking at surveillance camera images in the area.

The townhouse is part of a condominium corporation. Residents in the area told CP24 that there has been an ongoing dispute between the homeowner, who is on the condo’s board, and some other residents. A petition was being circulated to remove the homeowner from the board, they said.

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North York condo board president’s home target of arson
Newstalk 1010
by James Moore and Russ Courtney
21 October 2014

Authorities say a house fire in North York is a case of arson.

Police and Fire officials had previously said the blaze on Grandravine Dr, near Keele St and Sheppard Ave was 'suspicious.'

Tuesday morning, you could see charred brick above the front window and paint peeling off cupboards in the kitchen.

Although there is no confirmation on what the motive of this arson may have been, there was a dispute involving the condo board president (who lived in the home targeted) and residents in the area.

The man and his wife, described by a neighbour as middle-aged, were abruptly woken up early Tuesday morning by a loud bang in their kitchen.

At around 4:30 am, they ran down the stairs of their townhouse to find a fire roaring in their kitchen.

The couple escaped the flames and were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Three pets were rescued from the home and were not hurt.

The front window of the home was smashed and a source tells Newstalk 1010 that a hammer was found nearby. The source also said that a butane lighter and accelerant was found at the scene.

A neighbour says the condo board president was a bully and residents were unhappy with him because "he's not doing anything," they told Newstalk 1010. At least two residents had concerns about water damage that had not been repaired.

The neighbour says there were over 100 townhouses and 100 apartment units the president was responsible for.

Some residents were so unhappy with his performance that the neighbour says they tried to remove him from the board.

Two neighbours unaware of the dispute say the couple that lived in the home seemed nice, and they would occasionally say hello in passing.

A suspect was spotted leaving the scene but no description is available. Toronto Police and the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office are investigating.

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Oak Lawn man upset about roofers threatens to shoot condo president
Oak Lawn Patch
Lorraine Swanson
03 November 2016

OAK LAWN, IL -- An Oak Lawn man was arrested after he threatened to shoot his condominium association president because he felt workers were looking through his window and not respecting his religious customers, reports said.

According to the charges, Oak Lawn police responded to a reported threat at a condominium building in the 9600 block of South Ridgeland Avenue around 5 p.m. Oct. 20. When police arrived they saw a man, later identified as 25-year-old Jehad Ali Mohammad Alqudah, in the third-floor window.

Alqudah’s neighbor told police that he threatened to shoot her. The officer told Alqudah to to meet him outside. After making sure Alqudah wasn’t armed, Alqudah allegedly admitted to the officer that he had threatened to shoot his neighbor.

Police said Alqudah showed the officer where work was being done to the eaves under the roof Alqudah said the workers were able to look into his unit. According to the officer, Alqudah threatened his neighbor in the hallway because his customs weren’t being respected.

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Old feud fueled shotgun-toting woman, says lawyer whom she threatened
The Times-Picayune
By Beau Evans
October 31, 2016

Patricia Currie, 75, was arrested after she allegedly pulled a shotgun on her attorney in his Covington office and threatened to kill him Thursday (Oct. 28).
(St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office)

After more than two decades as a lawyer, Covington attorney Keith Couture said last Thursday (Oct. 28) was the first time a client had ever threatened him or taken aim at him with a gun.

That day, Couture said he was alone working in his Covington office when, hearing the front door open, he found his client Patricia Currie, 75, seated in the lobby. She had snuck behind the back of his office building, out of sight of any windows, and entered through the front door without him noticing, Couture said.

It was an strange sight, Couture said. She was sitting with a towel draped across her lap, with plastic bags covering her hands and feet. Beneath the towel, Couture soon discovered, lay a 410 shotgun.

He asked what she needed.

"She pointed a gun at me and said she would kill me," Couture said, speaking from his office on Monday. "It was fight or flight. I just grabbed the gun and that was it."

Soon after Couture wrangled the weapon from his client, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office deputies arrived to make the arrest. But according to spokesman Capt. Daniel Seuzeneau, deputies found Currie so uncooperative that it took a few more days for her to be properly identified, processed and booked into jail sometime over the weekend.

She faces an array of charges including aggravated assault with a firearm, resisting an officer, possession of a schedule IV controlled substance, and illegal carrying of a weapon during a crime of violence.

"Apparently, this was premeditated," Seuzeneau said. "She thought this out for a while."

due to her long-standing legal feud with the homeowners association

Looking back, Couture said Monday he believes Currie was driven to threaten him due to her long-standing legal feud with the homeowners association in her Mandeville neighborhood.

By Couture's account, Currie lashed out against him over his handling of her bankruptcy case, dating back to 2012. In that case, Currie had asked the court to strip a junior lien put on her house by the Fairway Villas I Homeowner's Association, which manages the plush Beau Chene neighborhood where Currie lives in Mandeville.

Currie & the HOA have feuded since at least 1992

Currie and the homeowners association have feuded since at least 1992, when Fairway Villas filed suit against Currie for not paying her monthly dues, records show. Currie -- who purchased her condominium in the neighborhood in 1978, a year after Fairway Villas was formed -- then filed an unsuccessful appeal, leading to a string of court cases fighting over the dues.

In all, court records show nearly 20 suits and appeals have been filed between Currie and the homeowners association since 1998.

To date, Fairway Villas has claimed Currie owes over $18,000 in arrears. As for Currie, she has told the court that she believes those dues were unfairly apportioned, documents show. She made payments on the dues off and on over the years, records show, leading to the 2012 bankruptcy declaration in which she asked that Fairway Villas's junior lien be stripped.

It's this long-running legal tug-of-war, Couture believes, that drove Currie to show up armed at his office.

"She was upset with the homeowners association," Couture said. "That's what she was displeased with. That no one was helping her."

The foiled attack came a few weeks after Couture filed a motion to withdraw as Currie's attorney, citing that he and Currie "disagree fundamentally on the direction and the procedure to take in this case," court records show. That motion was denied by Judge Elizabeth Magner in federal bankruptcy court on Tuesday.

Couture asked to withdraw again on Friday, after the tussle with his client. He expects that new motion to be accepted, but declined to elaborate on the details of his disagreement with Currie.

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Man accused of shooting up condo after nakedness call faces judge
ABC Eyewitness News
19 October 2016

A 52-year-old man, accused of shooting up a condo in Hawaii last weekend, faced a judge on Monday.

On Saturday, police say he fired dozens of shots into a neighbor's unit from an assault rifle after police were called when he was spotted parading around naked outside the condominium.

Scott Vidinha is facing multiple counts of attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and firearms charges.

He's being held on $1 million bail.

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HOA dispute has escalated to police, private security, lawsuit
Aspen Daily News
by Chad Abraham, Staff Writer
08 December 2016

A bitter dispute among members of the homeowners association at the North of Nell has escalated to involve law enforcement, private security and a lawsuit and counterclaims.
 
Thomas Daly, who owns commercial space in the mixed-use North of Nell building on Durant Avenue, sued fellow members of the HOA board in September. He alleges that defendants Hugh Tietjen, Quentin Durward and Jane O’Shaughnessy have violated bylaws by suspending him from board meetings until March 2017 and excluding him when members meet in executive session.
 
The HOA on Nov. 18 filed a 34-page answer to the lawsuit, with counterclaims detailing a litany of behavior by Daly it calls “demonstrably uncivil, disruptive and threatening.”

threatened to have him arrested for trespassing
 
Daly’s lawsuit says board members passed a resolution in June that threatened to have him arrested for trespassing if he tried to attend another meeting, and barred him from entering the North of Nell condominium office. He was also prohibited from speaking to the manager of the HOA and other employees.
 
Members also “threatened further restrictions if any ‘retaliation’ was taken by the plaintiff,” wrote Daly’s attorney, Charles Willman of Glenwood Springs.

not all board members present when resolution passed

The resolution was passed in an executive session that did not include the two commercial members of the board, Daly and his daughter.
 
Daly should not be banned from the office as it is considered a common element to which all unit owners have the unrestricted right to use, the lawsuit argues.
 
But the HOA contends that Daly’s actions “have created a workplace in which valuable employees, board members and agents feel harassed, threatened and unsafe,” says the counterclaim portion of the answer. “Employees report loss of sleep and distress, fear for their livelihoods, and have threatened to quit.”
 
Both sides have accused the other of lying, and the HOA says Daly has falsely accused members of committing crimes and being incompetent drunks.
 
“Board members and employees have questioned whether Daly’s comments were actionable slander … or libel,” wrote the HOA’s attorney, William Short of Lakewood.
 
An Aspen police officer responded to a North of Nell condominium on July 17, 2014, after Daly, in an HOA meeting, allegedly made vulgar comments about a board member, refused to leave, and threatened to take another member “outside and beat the s--- out of you.”
 
According to the counterclaims, in 2008, after Daly threatened to punch a contractor, the HOA adopted a code of conduct policy; in 2014, he tried to pressure the association manager to campaign against flower boxes on the property, and when the manager refused to alter meeting minutes regarding the issue, Daly threatened to have him fired.

“When Tom Daly wants something, he gets it and you better
know that.”
 
“You need to know how Tom Daly operates,” the counterclaim filing quotes him as saying. “When Tom Daly wants something, he gets it and you better know that.”
 
He also allegedly threatened to report the manager, who is a real estate agent, to the Colorado Real Estate Commission and the IRS.
 
In May, Daly called the police because an employee “smirked” at him, the filing says. No one has been arrested because of the alleged incidents, with an officer writing, “Bottom line is that there has been an ongoing problem at the North of Nell and Tom Daly is at the center of it.”

a“safe zone” for employees
 
The HOA, following procedures recommended by the Aspen Police Department, created a “safe zone” for employees.
 
In June, the board in executive session voted to suspend Daly from meetings until March; the session did not include Daly as a commercial board member, the lawsuit says.
 
“In fact, plaintiff, and/or his legal representative, was specifically asked to remove himself before the executive session commenced,” Daly’s attorney wrote.
 
The answer to the lawsuit disputes that, with Short writing that Daly “was observed at the Aspen airport loading luggage onto his private plane to depart Aspen before the meeting.”
 
“Defendants deny that plaintiff’s former attorney asked to attend the executive session,” the answer says. “Defendants affirmatively state that Mr. Daly’s former attorney voluntarily departed the meeting when the executive session was announced, after agreeing with the board of managers’ assessment concerning Mr. Daly’s pattern of conduct.”
 
The answer to the lawsuit acknowledges that the HOA hired a private security guard to stand outside a condo during the board meeting in July, after it had suspended his right to attend in person. The guard was hired because of “the strong evidence of a likely disruption of the meeting,” Short wrote.

Both sides want a judge to issue orders in their favor.
 
Both sides want a judge to issue orders in their favor. The lawsuit seeks an order declaring that the board’s resolution banning Daly is void because he was not allowed to attend the meeting, and an injunction to prohibit the HOA from banning him going forward. The HOA wants an order that requires Daly to adhere to its code of conduct and that its decrees be enforceable by law enforcement as contempt of court and breaching the peace.
The defendants are seeking a jury trial.

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Citrus Springs HOA board members brawl during Christmas party
Sebastian Daily
Scott Lee
15 December 2016

HOA board members have altercation doing Citrus Springs Christmas party.

VERO BEACH, Florida – Indian River County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance at Citrus Springs in Vero Beach about a fight between HOA board members during the community’s Christmas Party.

Deputies met with Chris Goodwin who said he was involved in a dispute with Thomas Deblase at the party. Goodwin advised that he and Deblase are on the board for the homeowners association in Citrus Springs.

Goodwin asked Deblase for help in a claim he’s making against the homeowner’s association and that’s when things got out of control. Goodwin became upset and started to argue with Deblase over the situation.

Eventually, Goodwin, Debase and another man named Peter Zavack entered the office area of the clubhouse so that they could be away from the party.

Goodwin got mad and tried to “take a swing at Deblast,” but was tackled by Zavack and taken to the ground, denting a metal filing cabinet. Goodwin got up and allegedly tried to spit at Debase as he exited the office.

The men decided to sign a declination of intent saying they did not wish to prosecute now or ever on allegations of battery.

It’s unknown if the men returned to the Christmas party.

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Hollywood Police investigating after condo board member gets threatening, racist letter
7 News Miami
16 May 2017

(WSVN) - Condo disputes in South Florida are nothing new. But in one community, it has gotten personal — and racist. 7’s Brian Entin has our special assignment report – “Guilt by Association?”

For 40 years, Gloria Davis worked long hours as a nurse. She moved into a condo at Washington Palms in Hollywood to retire and relax.

Gloria Davis: “I just wanted to move into a community that would take care of everything for me.”

But then, her monthly maintenance fees started rising.

Gloria Davis: “I said, ‘Let me get on the board and see what is going on,’ and that is what I did, and boy did I get an eye-opener.”

Gloria says there was a long list of condo owners not paying their fees.

She had to make tough decisions — like voting to go after delinquent unit owners.

Gloria Davis: “No one is going to control me and tell me how to vote, or when to vote.”

And that’s when it started. First, Gloria’s car got keyed — and then this racist letter — using the “n-word” — showed up in her mailbox.

Gloria Davis: “You dumb n*****. We take back our community committee. We want you out of Washington Palms community. This a warning.”

Brian Entin: “What was your first thought when you read that?”

Gloria Davis: “Here we go again.”

Gloria took the note to Hollywood Police — and they’re investigating.

Gloria Davis: “You can’t scare me off that easily. I’m a fighter.”

But Gloria says she doesn’t understand why the condo board isn’t doing more. She wants them to send a letter to all the residents here, telling them racism and threats will not be tolerated.

Eric Glazer, condo law expert: “It’s horrific. Horrible. I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that before.”

Condo law expert Eric Glazer says the board must take action.

Eric Glazer: “I think it’s a very big deal when you are going after a board member, specifically making those allegations because of their race, color, religion, etc. That presents a very significant problem for the association.”

The association’s attorney told 7News several things:
• This is a very contentious community.
• They’ve been discussing putting up security cameras.
• They are considering sending out a letter to residents about the threat.
• They want the person who sent it prosecuted.

Gloria Davis: “It is not easy because when you are walking up to your door, you are always looking over your shoulder.”

Gloria decided not to run again for the condo board, but she says she is not going to be scared away from her home.

Gloria Davis: “You know what? They can warn all they want. I’m not going anywhere.”

If police can figure out who sent the note — the condo’s attorney says he’ll help Gloria file a restraining order.

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Dispute among condo board members lands Boca man in jail
Julius Whigham II  Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
02 June 2017

Eric Harry Shaw

An altercation between two board members of a Boca Raton condo association landed one in jail this week on a battery charge.

City police arrested Eric Harry Shaw, 73, Tuesday on a charge of battery on a person older than 65.

According to an arrest report, Shaw, a board member of the Chalfonte Condominiums on South Ocean Boulevard south of Palmetto Park Road, grabbed a 69-year-old board member by the upper arms and shook that person.

Shaw made contact with the other board member again in an unspecified manner, causing a cut to that person’s face, the report said. The report does not say what caused the altercation.

Shaw was released from the Palm Beach County Jail Wednesday after posting $3,000 bail.

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HOA security guard accused of hitting resident with patrol car
Palm Beach Post
05 June 2017

Thomas Kabis

An HOA security officer is facing an aggravated battery charge after a resident accused the officer of hitting him with his patrol car during a dispute about a parking ticket, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

Thomas Kabis, 78, of suburban Greenacres is facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was arrested May 23, the day the incident took place, and released from the county jail the next day on a $5,000 bond.

The incident took place in Pine Glen at Abbey Park, along Forest Hill Boulevard east of Greenacres city limits. According to a sheriff’s report, investigators say Kabis approached a man making repairs to a car in front of his Glencove Lane home and told him that he was illegally parked and that he was writing him a ticket.

The man said he was working on his vehicle, which had the hood up, the report said. Despite this, Kabis still wrote him a ticket and taped it on the rear passenger-side window. The man videotapped Kabis doing this with his phone.

Kabis then went back to his security vehicle and prepared to drive away while the man stood in front of the car, according to the report. The man told deputies that Kabis “without warning” drove forward and hit him with the vehicle.

The report said the man then jumped onto the hood of the car “to keep from being snatched under the vehicle” and that Kabis stopped abruptly, hoping to shake the man to the ground. The man said “his head whipped forward striking the windshield” from the momentum of the event and that he held onto a windshield wiper “in fear of his life” as Kabis tried to drive away, according to the report.

Kabis told police that he knew the man was upset when he gave him a ticket, and he was planning to leave without causing an incident. He said he drove toward the man so that he would get out of the way of his car, but he didn’t move and then jumped onto the hood of the car.

Kabis told officers he tried to speed up and slam on the brakes to get the man off the hood of his car. He said he tried swerving to get him off the vehicle but that “he must have some strong fingers.” Kabis said he called authorities once the incident ended.

The victim scrapped his left elbow and said he couldn’t feel the fingers on his left hand, the report said. Medics were called to the scene to tend to his injuries.

Kabis may not work in the community until while the matter is before the courts. He is set to appear before Circuit Court Judge Laura Johnson on June 29, according to online court documents.

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Man arrested in shooting of northwest valley homeowners association president
Las Vegas Review-Journal
By Bianca Cseke
June 19, 2017 - 8:30 pm

Eric Leroy (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

A man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting his homeowners association president at a northwest valley condominium complex.

Eric Leroy, 33, shot at Timothy Rose three times on June 14 in the complex on the 8400 block of Boseck Drive, grazing him on the right side of his face and hitting his left calf, an arrest report shows.

Leroy was upset that Rose had kept possession of his property because of a debt he owed, and had previously threatened to shoot him, the report said.

Rose was transported by another resident of the complex to Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

Leroy is being held at Clark County Detention Center without bail.

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Trial opens in attempted-murder case stemming from Boulder County squirrel dispute
Boulder County News
By Mitchell Byars
Staff Writer
19 June 2017

Jon Marc Barbour and a companion cover their faces as they wait for the afternoon session of his trial Monday at the Boulder County Justice Center. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

The trial for a Gunbarrel man accused of shooting his neighbor over a dispute about feeding the local squirrels began Monday as a Boulder County jury will be tasked with determining if the shooting was an attempted murder or an act of self-defense.

Jon Barbour, 60, is facing one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury.

Attorneys agreed that Barbour shot his neighbor, Jeffrey Browning, on May 12, 2016, in their condominium complex on Willowbrook Lane. But prosecutors and defense attorneys presented two very different accounts of what led to the shooting in their opening statements Monday.

"This is a case with only two eyewitnesses: My client, Jon Barbour, and Jeff Browning," said defense attorney David Sanderson. "The evidence is going to show this is a he-said, he-said situation. That's what it boils down to. You get to decide whether Jon attempted to hurt Jeffrey Browning or whether he did not."

some children were allergic to peanuts and it created a mess

Deputy District Attorney Karen Peters said a year before the shooting, Barbour began to feed peanuts to squirrels because it was his way of reconnecting with his deceased parents. But Peters said some residents objected to it because some children were allergic to peanuts and it created a mess.

"The defendant in this case shot an unarmed man in the back," she said. "The reason this happened is because the defendant was angry at his neighbors and at the homeowners association because they wanted him to stop feeding peanuts to the squirrels."

Peters said Browning actually didn't care about the peanuts but did not like the fliers Barbour posted around the complex explaining why he fed the squirrels and signing them "The Squirrel Guy." Peters said Browning took down the fliers, and Barbour saw this.

"All his anger toward the neighborhood and the homeowners association now is directed toward Jeff," she said. "Jeff has no idea how angry Mr. Barbour is, has no idea how escalated this is. When Jeffrey Browning takes down the flier, two days before the shooting he has no idea Mr. Barbour's focus is on him."

Peters said that on the day of the shooting, Browning took his dog for a walk when he saw Barbour and asked him about his truck. Peters said Barbour confronted him about the fliers before he flashed a gun in his holster and said, "Come and get this."

"Jeffrey Browning doesn't want to go 'get that,'" she said. "He takes a couple steps away and 'bam,' Mr. Barbour shoots him in the back."

But Sanderson said that Barbour was defending himself after Browning attacked Barbour.

"Browning runs up on him, on Jon—his back is to him standing in his driveway—and sucker punches him right in the back of the head," Sanderson said. "You're going to hear that it was Jeffrey Browning who closed the gap. You're going to hear that it was Jeffrey Browning who ran up on the backside of Jon Barbour. You're going to hear that Jon protects himself and his wife of 30 years.

"When Jeffrey Browning whacks Jon Barbour in the back of the head while Jon is doing his thing, Jon's self-defense mode kicks in and he reaches for his (gun), he unholsters it, he goes to turn around and as he does, the younger, the bigger, the stronger Jeffrey Browning grabs it. There is a struggle, they struggle, two men struggling over a gun. Browning loses his grip and as he falls away, the gun discharges."

While prosecutors said Browning was shot in the back, Sanderson said that Browning was shot, "in his own words: 'In his ass.'"

"Threat eliminated, Jon holsters the gun," Sanderson said, noting that Barbour had a concealed carry permit for the weapon and also was the one who called 911.

"He waited for law enforcement to arrive, because that's what you are supposed to do," Sanderson said. "He was cooperative, he was polite, he was calm, he was matter-of-fact. He was not angry, he was not hysterical."

The trial is expected to last one week.

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They wanted to impound his vehicle. He threatened them with a rifle
The News Tribune  Fife Washington
By Stacia Glenn
30 June 2017

He was not going to let anybody take his broken-down car.

A letter from a Fife homeowners association warning the 42-year-old that his inoperable vehicle had to be moved away went ignored.

It didn’t happen.

On Wednesday, the Wapato Pointe South Homeowners Association sent three people to impound the car. They were greeted by an upset man who grabbed a rifle, according to court records.

“The defendant had stated that he would kill anyone who came on his property…” according to the charging papers.

The man said he was waiting on parts for the car. He allegedly waved the rifle around and warned them to get off his property.

Police were called and officers took the man’s children away. They now are with the man’s estranged wife.

While searching the home for other weapons, police said they discovered a marijuana grow.

The man pleaded not guilty Thursday to second-degree assault and was jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail.

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Delusional killer who thought beloved neighbor was bugging his condo gets 70 years
The Dallas Morning News
Tasha Tsiaperas, Staff Writer
04 August 2017

Thomas Wilson III was convinced someone was breaking into his condominium and hiding recording devices in the walls.

He ripped up the carpet in his northwest Dallas home and tore out the floorboards and door frames. He stockpiled weapons and once fired a gun in his own condo, believing a person hid inside.
 
Wilson's delusions worsened — sometimes fueled by methamphetamine use — until midmorning July 15, 2015, when he shot his neighbor, Nathan Tonolini, 11 times.

A Dallas County jury sentenced Wilson to 70 years in prison Friday. He pleaded guilty this week to murdering the 34-year-old man.

For two years, the Tonolini family wondered why Wilson shot his neighbor. There were no problems between the men, and neighbors described Wilson as friendly.

They learned Friday about the delusions, the conspiracy theory books Wilson read and the stockpile of firearms, spears and tomahawks in the man's home.

After the sentence was read, Tonolini's older sister, Colleen, described her brother as a social butterfly who loved to crack jokes.

He once told her he wanted her to have two children, a girl and a boy, and name them "Denise" and "Denephew."

Colleen Tonilini looked at Wilson and said, "He was not after you."
"I'm sorry for you that that's what you thought," she added.

Tonolini was a board member of the homeowners' association

Tonolini was a board member of the homeowners' association at the condominiums on Brockbank Drive.

Wilson believed Tonolini had access to maintenance keys—he didn't—and was letting intruders into Wilson's home.

Tonolini worked nights and was coming home from work when Wilson opened fire. Neighbors and Tonolini's sister heard him cry out for help.

Prosecutors Laura Andrade and Sean Colston argued that Wilson should be locked away for life.
 
Wilson knew that killing Tonolini was wrong, Andrade said. He called his mother afterward and told her what he had done. He asked a neighbor to watch his dog, Gizmo.
 
He was "more concerned for his dog than for the person he just shot 11 times," Andrade said during closing arguments.
 
Colston slammed his fist on the wooden stand 11 times, counting out each of the times Wilson pulled the trigger.

"Thomas Wilson cannot ever be given the freedom to hurt someone again," Colston said. "Eleven times he pulled that trigger, firing at Nathan Tonolini, a man who was just coming home from work."

But defense attorneys Sherrod Edwards and Audrey Garnett said Wilson needs mental health treatment to stop the delusions, which continued after Wilson was jailed and no longer using drugs. They asked for a shorter punishment.
 
"It's better for everybody if Mr. Wilson can have an opportunity to get treatment," Garnett said. "He's helpful. He's intelligent. He's a good worker. These are qualities we want in our society."

Wilson had been hospitalized several times before he killed Tonolini. His delusions were often attributed to methamphetamine use.

But forensic psychiatrist Kristi Compton diagnosed Wilson with a delusional disorder — an illness that drug use exacerbated but did not cause.
 
"A person who is delusional looks normal, acts normal, until they start unraveling," Compton testified.

Friends and neighbors described Wilson as kind and helpful. But his exterior appearance hid the chaos inside. Many people weren't invited into his home, which he had torn apart looking for wiretaps.

Wilson saw conspiracy everywhere, even among one of his kindest neighbors.
Tonolini was a beloved member of the neighborhood. He was nominated to be a board member of the HOA, something he didn't particularly want to do but did anyway because of the need, his family said.

He was the sort of person who taught the Bible to deaf members of his church and drove to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild homes.

And he was quick-witted.
 
"Even when we were mad at him, he would do something and make us laugh," said his mother, Nancy Tonolini.
 
But to Wilson, Tonolini was the enemy.

"He was tired of the torture, and he believed Mr. Tonolini was part of the conspiracy to harm him," Compton said of Wilson. "If not for the delusions, Mr. Tonolini would not have been murdered."
 
The Tonolini family said it was helpful to hear Compton explain why Wilson opened fire that day — an action they couldn't rationalize.
 
"I look at him, and I think, 'God, I feel so bad for him,'" Nancy Tonolini said.
As both the Tonolini and Wilson families walked out of the courtroom, they shook hands and embraced each other. The mothers hugged.

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Natrona county HOA President arrested for assault with pickaxe
K2 Radio Wyoming
27 November 2017

Wade Curtis Miller

The president of a homeowner's association was arrested over the weekend after allegedly breaking through a glass patio door and hitting a man with a pickaxe, a shovel and a wooden post.

Wade Curtis Miller, 45, was booked on recommended charges of aggravated assault and unlawful entry. He will likely make his initial appearance in Natrona County Circuit Court at 2 p.m. Monday.

Charging papers say Natrona County Sheriff's deputies responded to a home in the 5000 block of Okeepa -- west of Casper on Highway 220 -- for a report of an assault shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday.

The victim, who lives at the home, said two men came over and knocked on a glass patio door. When the victim got up and walked over to the glass door, he saw both men urinate into a generator gas tank.

The victim said he opened the door to ask what the men were doing, and an argument ensued between the victim and Miller. The victim retreated back inside the home and shut the door.

Miller then allegedly used a pickaxe to smash out the glass of the patio door, started yelling and hit the victim two or three times with the pick axe.

The other man, Seth Zupanik, stood outside and watched the alleged assault, according to an affidavit.

Miller had reportedly stepped inside the home to hit the victim with the pickaxe, and the victim held up his left arm to defend himself. Deputies noticed defensive wounds on the victim's left forearm.

Miller allegedly discarded the pickaxe and picked up a large wooden post, which he then used to hit the victim. The victim was able to grab the post and take it away from Miller, though the victim injured his hand in doing so.

Miller then allegedly grabbed a nearby shovel and used it to hit the victim in the right shin. The victim was also hit on the left side of his head at some point during the alleged attack.

The victim told deputies he had tried to call 911 during the attack, but Miller hit the victim's cell phone out of his hand and broke the phone.

The victim yelled, "I'm gonna get a gun" in an effort to scare Miller and Zupanik into leaving, although the victim didn't have a gun. It worked, and the two men took off.

They reportedly went into a house directly south of the victim's home, saying something to the effect of, "We'll get him in the morning."

Through interviews with a property caretaker, Zupanik and his wife, deputies determined Miller was was the man who assaulted the victim. Deputies arrested Miller shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday and interviewed him about an hour later.

Miller confirmed he was the president of the homeowner's association. He claimed to have received numerous complaints about the owners of the victim's property.

Miller told investigators that Zupanik had invited him over to his house, so Miller went over and the two mutually decided to go to the victim's house.

Court documents say Miller admitted to getting into an argument with the victim, then pulling the victim's shirt over his head, putting him into a headlock and punching the victim twice in the left side of his head.

Miller also allegedly admitted to using a pickaxe to break out the glass patio door and confront the victim again, but denied ever going inside the house.

Miller denied hitting the victim with anything other than his fist. He did say he was right-handed, and investigators noted that the victim's injuries were largely on the left side of his body -- consistent with having been inflicted by a right-handed person.

After he broke out the glass door, Miller said he saw a gun in the victim's waistband, so he and Zupanik left. Miller reportedly described himself as the aggressor.

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Man accused of pick-axe assault, urinating in gas tank in Home Owner Association dispute
Oil City News
27 November 2017

A Natrona County man has been arrested after it was alleged that he assaulted another man with weapons including a pickaxe and a spade shovel; following a dispute between home owners.

According to Natrona County Sheriff’s Office reports, 45-year-old Wade Miller was arrested and booked into the Detention Center on recommended charges of Aggravated Assault and Unlawful Entry.

Deputies responded to the 5800 block of Okeepa Road just before 6:00 pm on November 25th, 2017.

According to statements from the victim to the NCSO, a man says that two men had come to his Natrona County home, and knocked on the glass patio door. When the alleged victim got up to investigate, he reported seeing two individuals urinating into a generator gas tank, outside. The victim then reported that a verbal confrontation ensued between himself, and a man later identified as Miller.

The victim then said that Miller grabbed a nearby pick axe and smashed out the glass to the patio door. The victim then says he was hit by the pick axe two or three times. The other man was reportedly standing outside, watching the assault. The victim said that he held up his arm to block the strikes, and was observed to have swelling and a bloody abrasion to his left arm.

The victim then claims that Miller picked up a spade shovel from outside and used it to strike the victim, hitting him in the right shin. He also claimed, during the attack, to have been struck in the left side of the head.

The victim says that he tried to call police, but that Miller had struck the phone out of miller’s hand and broke the phone. The victim finally yelled that he was going to get a gun, Miller was reported to have yelled “gun” and left with the other individual. The victim reported that one of the men said something to the effect of “we’ll get him in the morning.

After a discussion with the property owner, from whom the victim was renting, police noted that the property owner said there had been several confrontations with Miller, who was reportedly an official with a local homeowner’s association, and had complaints about the state of the property.

NCSO Deputies made contact with the man who allegedly had stood outside the door and watched the assault, who lived a short distance away. A family member reporting that when the man had returned home, he had said something happened and it was not good, and that he should have “pull[ed] Wade off of him.”

The man spoke with officers, then, saying that Miller was the person who assaulted the victim. The man claiming that Miller had come over to his home, trying to convince the man to go confront the victim. The man said he tried to advise Miller that it was not a good idea, however Miller was said to have begun walking towards the residence, anyway.

The man admitted he and Miller took turns urinating in the generator. He further said that when confronted by the victim, Miller used and object to smash the glass patio door. A physical altercation began, and the man said that Miller poked and hit the victim with a spade shovel.

Sheriff’s eventually made contact with Miller, who confirmed that he was the president of the Home Owner’s Association, and that he had numerous complaints and problems with the property on the 5800 block of Okeepa Road in Natrona County. Miller said that he had an argument with the victim and that during the argument, he had pulled the victim’s shirt over his head, and put the victim in a headlock. Miller admitted to striking the victim with his fists, but denied using the axe or the shovel against the victim. Miller further claimed that while he had used the pick axe on the glass patio door, he had not struck the victim with it.

NCSO deputies report that Miller described himself as the aggressor of the situation, but denied urinating in the generator, and that he had no reason for the attack except letting his anger get out of control. Miller also reported that he had seen a gun in the waistband of the victim’s pants.

The victim denied any actual ownership of a firearm.

Miller was arrested and booked into the Natrona County Detention Center with no further reported incident.

All of those cited or arrested are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law. Charges are subject to change following official filings from the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office.

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Spring HOA president accused of threatening teens with gun
Click 2 Houston
By Syan Rhodes
18 December 18 2017

SPRING, Texas - The president of a Spring homeowner's association has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly threatening a group of teenagers with a gun.

It happened Friday in the Mirror Lake subdivision.

According to court documents, 40-year-old John David Warner threatened a teen with "imminent bodily injury by using and exhibiting a deadly weapon."

The mother of one of the teens heard squealing tires and suspected her son and his two friends were behind the noise.

She said before she could go outside to stop it, the teens said Warner confronted them, showed his holstered gun and said he would put bullet holes in their truck if it happened again.

Warner called the Harris County Sheriff's Office, but when deputies arrived, he ended up in handcuffs, under arrest.

Warner is free on $30,000 bond. He is due back in court in January.

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Serial Defecator? Elderly St. Petersburg man targeted by poop vandal
10News WTSP
Author: Sarah Rosario
07 May 2018


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Ed Freeh woke up in a panic Sunday morning after hearing a noise at his front door, so he called 911.

“I walked out there," the 87-year-old man said, "and as soon as I opened that door, I couldn’t see out because it was a mess."

That mess was from someone who he says smeared massive amounts of feces all over his front door.

Pictures of the door show the gross scene. It’s the second time Freeh says this has happened. The first incident happened March 27.

He and his daughter, Laura Rainey, believe he’s being targeted by someone who used to live in the same condominium complex.

“We couldn’t believe this was happening again. We were like, oh, my gosh,” Rainey said.


Workers replace the vandalized door.

Freeh is the former president of the homeowner’s association at the Chalet on the Lake Condominium Association in St. Petersburg and doesn’t know why someone would do this.

A camera put up after the first incident shows someone at the door around 2:19 a.m. Sunday, but you can’t make out who it is.

“What’s sad is that my dad is legally blind and in a wheelchair,” Rainey said. “Why would someone pick on someone like that?”

Crews spent hours trying to clean up the mess, but the smell remained. Now Freeh hopes whoever is doing this is caught so he can live in peace.


We blurred this photo of Ed Freeh's vandalized front door.

“I’m not one to want him to go to jail, but I just want him out of here,” Freeh said.

“What goes around comes around, and he will have his time,” Rainey said.

Freeh and his daughter think they know who’s responsible, and have even given St. Petersburg police a name, and officers are investigating.

Freeh says they were told things like this are hard to prove.

Anyone who knows anything about this case is asked to call St. Petersburg police.

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