Could our neighbor be harassing us?

[LCic]

New York State-- My husband and I have an elderly neighbor who at first we just looked at as being annoying/a nuisance but lately we are thinking that he is more dangerous than he seems. Since we moved in 7 years ago, he has harassed us a number of times trying to get us to pay for cracks in his driveway, which he blames on "our water." He really has no grounds and has called our town on us several times, but we are never found at fault. We have not spoken to him in several years, until last week when he tried to initiate a heated conversation with my husband. My husband is a State Trooper, and like always, remained calm. It seems like our neighbor was trying to get a rise out of my husband so that maybe my husband would try to hit him so he would have a lawsuit. I say this because in the past he has told us numerous times he was going to sue us for completely ridiculous and false things and there have been times where, during a conversation, he has suggested "why don't you hit me?" to my husband. I witnessed the most recent conversation (I was looking out our window) and heard our neighbor making completely false statements like that my husband was harassing him over the phone (we don't even have his phone number). He ended the conversation with "you WILL pay for this." We figured he was talking about the cracks in his driveway again, and we tried to let it slide and just ignore him, however today my husband was pulled into his Captain's office with a personnel complaint. Our neighbor had called and said that during the conversation, my husband threatened him with a gun. Like I said, My husband remained calm through the whole conversation, not to mention, we do not own a gun and his on-duty gun stays in his locker and has never once been in our home. The Captain did let my husband know that when the investigators visited my neighbor's house, he did retract his statement, and everything checked out in my husband's favor. Despite this, I'm terrified that this man is not going to stop until my husband is fired. If he can call my husbands place of employment (my husband works 4 hours away from our house) and completely fabricate this story--what else is he capable of? I also think he is very emotionally unstable and I'm pretty nervous for my family. We have a toddler. I just wanted to see if there is anything we can do before he does anything else crazy. Do we have any legal grounds to stand on here?

 

[quincy]

New York State-- My husband and I have an elderly neighbor who at first we just looked at as being annoying/a nuisance but lately we are thinking that he is more dangerous than he seems. Since we moved in 7 years ago, he has harassed us a number of times trying to get us to pay for cracks in his driveway, which he blames on "our water." He really has no grounds and has called our town on us several times, but we are never found at fault. We have not spoken to him in several years, until last week when he tried to initiate a heated conversation with my husband. My husband is a State Trooper, and like always, remained calm. It seems like our neighbor was trying to get a rise out of my husband so that maybe my husband would try to hit him so he would have a lawsuit. I say this because in the past he has told us numerous times he was going to sue us for completely ridiculous and false things and there have been times where, during a conversation, he has suggested "why don't you hit me?" to my husband. I witnessed the most recent conversation (I was looking out our window) and heard our neighbor making completely false statements like that my husband was harassing him over the phone (we don't even have his phone number). He ended the conversation with "you WILL pay for this." We figured he was talking about the cracks in his driveway again, and we tried to let it slide and just ignore him, however today my husband was pulled into his Captain's office with a personnel complaint. Our neighbor had called and said that during the conversation, my husband threatened him with a gun. Like I said, My husband remained calm through the whole conversation, not to mention, we do not own a gun and his on-duty gun stays in his locker and has never once been in our home. The Captain did let my husband know that when the investigators visited my neighbor's house, he did retract his statement, and everything checked out in my husband's favor. Despite this, I'm terrified that this man is not going to stop until my husband is fired. If he can call my husbands place of employment (my husband works 4 hours away from our house) and completely fabricate this story--what else is he capable of? I also think he is very emotionally unstable and I'm pretty nervous for my family. We have a toddler. I just wanted to see if there is anything we can do before he does anything else crazy. Do we have any legal grounds to stand on here?

It is possible that your elderly neighbor is suffering from an illness. Do you know if this neighbor has family nearby who you or perhaps the police could contact to encourage the neighbor to have a medical or mental health evaluation?

 

[FarmerJ]

I suggest you take the time to learn how to block should he ever become nuts enough to try to hit you , you can learn blocking from a self defense class or even a therapeutic intervention teacher , As a state trooper even your husband must know the moves and he could possibly teach you. As far as the neighbor goes I would also suggest home security alarm and last but not least your own camera system to record the exterior of your home.