What Would Be The Smart Thing To Do?

[junkman]

i have a dilemma I figured I would through out to you guys and see if you might be able to give me some GOOD advice. The neighbor sold their house three months ago and a real Jim Dandy moved in. He loves to target practice but the thing is he only has a acre of ground with the house. He decided to set a target up on me and commenced to shooting without thought. Bullets travel a 1/4 mile through the weeds and trees and are only stopped by a old goat milking shed stored with stuff and a tempered glass green house which you know won't stop anything.

Went to the sheriff for advice for I could plainly see he has no brains whatsoever, and the said they couldn't do much except talk to him without me filing a report which I didn't want to do for I didn't want to make him mad.

I decided to catch he and his buddies out there red handed and polity told them I don't care if you shoot on your own property but I would like you to respect the property line.

He stated he was sorry and was about to build a berm which the police said was the only way to get him. Well sure enough, came home one day to see 8 railroad ties stacked up on top of each other and located 20 ft. over on me. Figured I would wait till I could catch them red handed and politely tell him he needs to move it.

Well all was quiet for about a month then the other day he decided to through a party. About ten o'clock at night the shooting started again. drove up there (only 100yards from the house) and again had to politely tell him to respect the property line. He was drunk but was nice and told me we are for I got the berm up now. I had to inform him that you put it up on my side of the line. Then he says were is the line? I had already pointed to the steel posts marking the corners and then he commenced to apologizing, and that's when I told his you can do what ever you want to as long as it is on your side of the line.

Well the berm never got moved and tonight the pistols and high powered rifles started blasting again. Now every time they shoot the neighbors, sometimes more then three call the sheriff but sometimes they don't even come out. Well the wife called them today as I walked out the door to catch them red handed again but like usual they went inside after a few clips.

Cops did come and even the wife told them they were shooting on our property but I could hear them laughing together and after he left they shot another clip off.

I walked up there and pushed the berm over but don't know if I should have. But they have shot up the few things stored in the shed and busted four pieces of tempered glass out of my greenhouse but yet people that know him say he is the dumbest person you ever saw and as well is known to snort a little meth. So like you make him mad, who knows what he might do. Even the boys don't like to go outside because of it.

Only knowledgeable suggestions? Looks like I will put up some trespassing signs and see if that might work. If I make him pay for the stuff they destroyed it will make him mad to. any thoughts

[rps]

There are many answers. None are perfect. One, call the press and humiliate him for being risky and stupid. Two, call the ATF and report him for suspected firearms violations. Three, bypass the police and talk to the district attorney. Four, contact an attorney about sending a certified mail cease and desist letter. All these have draw backs. None of these are friendly. However, the key is that you cannot let him continue to shoot up your place. The risk to family is too great.

[jdmidwest]

If the sheriff does not get things done by enforcing the law, I would suggest the Highway Patrol. If he is doing stuff on your property, it is clearly trespass. If he is endangering your family or personal property, then there are other laws he is breaking.

Did you notice any strong smells of chemical or ether? That may be enough to get the Patrol to serve a warrant for production of meth.

[junkman]

what about a semi polite strong arm approach? Going over there with the sheriff and run through how nice I had been but enough is enough?

[junkman]

How about this for you that live in MO. Could I go ahead and have a police report wrote up but not press charges at that time? then maybe tell him I will if it doesn't stop?

[fishinwrench]

Go down there with a 12 pack and a doobie and get to know the guy, he's prolly a good ol'dude and a good neighbor to have.

Once y'all are buddies and he does stuff that offends you and your other pissy neighbors them you can stick your head out the door and holler "Hey Asshole, Knock it off "!

And he will.

[Jack Jones]

Unlikely to write a report without pressing charges. That would almost be considered a waste of the police officer's time. Do you know this neighbor's full name? If so, check him through Missouri's Case.net online to see if he has any criminal charges either in the past or pending. It may give you a better idea of who you are dealing with. I'm with RPS on this one. If you find out he has a felony, you may wish to contact the county prosecuting attorney to report a felon in possession of firearms. If that's the case, I would call the U.S. Attorney's office too. As for the berm, I would simply move it. You certainly have the right to move things that are on your property back to his. I know it's more work than you'd want to do, but it is likely the only way you can do it.

Also, you may want to look into taking him into small claims court for the property that has already been damaged. I don't know what the value is, but it would likely give you a small judgment against him and he would certainly get the hint at that point. If you take that route, you may wish to consider splitting the difference on any judgment awarded if he'll stop shooting or shoot in the other direction or something. That way, you won't come off as too heavy handed. Remember, the goal is simply to deter his behavior, not necessarily punish him, right?

While I also agree with JD regarding the trespass, and possible other violations of the law, remember where you live. In those small counties, it is sometimes difficult to get local law enforcement to take this type of behavior too serious. Especially when they do what you describe (run and hide, then come out when the law leaves). In the worst circumstances, situations like this can take quite a while to resolve.

Lastly, I suppose you could get all Hatfield/McCoy on him and just start your own target practice in his direction.

[Jack Jones]

Nice one Wrench!

[junkman]

Well wrench i did go up there out of the kindness of my heart with the skid loader and transit and leveled out a place for his swimming pool. All for free gratitude. but still don't listen.

[fishinwrench]

Well wrench i did go up there out of the kindness of my heart with the skid loader and transit and leveled out a place for his swimming pool. All for free gratitude. but still don't listen.

Well that was really cool of ya but there's still a big difference between a skid loader and transit, and a 12 pack and a doob so I'm not too surprised that it failed to bond the two of ya properly.