Neighbors son

[longsally111]

What is the name of your state? South Carolina
We have a neighbor who has a 17 year old son. He was suspended and then expelled from school this past year. The parents are drug testing him regularly and apparently he has been to rehab a few times for drug usage. With that said, he has a million friends who come over to our cul-de-sac constantly. The mother told us one year ago when she moved in that the old neighbors hated them due to the same situations we now have.
The sons friends come roaring onto the street very fast, we have small children that play in the cul-de-sac. They throw cigarette butts all over the road and on our lawn. The other day, one of the boys was squealing his tires as he pulled out and my husband went up to him and asked him to slow down. With this, the boy flipped him a bird.
My husband then approached the car to tell this kid to slow down and the kid got out of the vehicle cursing at him. My husband went straight to the neighbors door, knocked on it and told the woman there that we would no longer tolerate this behavior, that the kids had no respect for them or anyone else and that we would be calling the police from now on.
I am, of course, worried about the vandelism that will occur as soon as we take that step. My question is what, if anything, can be done to stop these kids from coming onto the street? We have had enough.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? South Carolina
We have a neighbor who has a 17 year old son. He was suspended and then expelled from school this past year. The parents are drug testing him regularly and apparently he has been to rehab a few times for drug usage. With that said, he has a million friends who come over to our cul-de-sac constantly. The mother told us one year ago when she moved in that the old neighbors hated them due to the same situations we now have.
The sons friends come roaring onto the street very fast, we have small children that play in the cul-de-sac. They throw cigarette butts all over the road and on our lawn. The other day, one of the boys was squealing his tires as he pulled out and my husband went up to him and asked him to slow down. With this, the boy flipped him a bird.
My husband then approached the car to tell this kid to slow down and the kid got out of the vehicle cursing at him. My husband went straight to the neighbors door, knocked on it and told the woman there that we would no longer tolerate this behavior, that the kids had no respect for them or anyone else and that we would be calling the police from now on.
I am, of course, worried about the vandelism that will occur as soon as we take that step. My question is what, if anything, can be done to stop these kids from coming onto the street? We have had enough.

Call the cops.

 

[divgradcurl]

If it's a public street, you probably can't keep them from coming over. But, like SJ said, you can call the cops if they create a nuisance.

 

[bdancer]

If they're squeeling tires and speeding, you may have better luck at getting an increase in police patrols.

I suggest taking pictures of any illegally parked cars or gatherings in the street. If you can get the police to issue citations, maybe they'll go play elsewhere.

 

[Gum_Drop]

you may also want to invest in some BRIGHT outdoor motion lighting as well as a camera aimed at your cars if you just leave them in the driveway. Speaking from prior experience. First time it happened we had no proof, and there was nothing that could be done, 2nd and 3rd time we had video tape which led to their arrest, and then our winning a judgement against them for repairs.

Good luck with this. It took about 8 months for our situation to change. It will get much worse before it gets better.

 

[noisefrazzle]

Sorry for your situation, we had a similar one. I have no legal advice but here is what we did a few years ago in our old neighborhood. I don't know if any of these can/will work for you, but they did for us.

- we asked the town for a "no loitering" sign to be installed at the end of the road. While it was mostly for show, it did work, to a certain extent.

- if you can, get your spouse, other neighbor, best friend and, when the kids are out there, take lawn chairs, cool drinks, radio etc. and park yourselves on the edge of your yard, close to where the kids hang out. Don't interact with the kids or shoot them dirty looks; just be there, hanging with your friend/spouse. In my experience this will cause them to drift away as they don't want adults eyeballing them. This one has limited application but can work from time to time. You can also buzz on out and clean out/wash your car while they are out there.

- talk with neighbor parents as much as possible, about their kids who are involved. Keep talking to them, politely. Make it their problem as much as possible. Do not be confrontational.

- Recruit other families in the 'hood to help end this.

- if you are comfortable doing so, write or email the Chief of Captain of your local police, detailing your concerns and any dubious activity you have witnessed. I did, and received very nice responses, promising more supervision of the area. Worked like magic. (I'd also recommend sending a thank you note, if you notice a change, to let the police know that it worked.)

Finally, do not be confrontational with the kids!! One, you could get yourself in trouble with the law this way, should things escalate and two, it plays into the teenage mind!!Through two years of this hell my husband and I did not have one problem with retribution or vandalism with the kids, though everyone knew who was doing all the work to get them off the street! I believe this was because we were *always* friendly with the teens and young adults doing the hanging out. For example, the young lady next door had two BFs who would park on the street with their bass/music just screaming. In both cases DH went out, knocked on the car windows and said, with a smile, "Dude, your bass is rockin' the hood. Mind knocking it back a little?" Both boys apologized and, from that point on, turned the music down as they came into the area. So, my point is, while you may want to throttle the little buggers, take your complaints/frustration to the adults and authorities, not the kids.

Sorry so long. Hope that helps!! Good luck. It WILL get better, just be patient and keep working on it.

NF

 

[longsally111]

reply

These all sound like good ideas. One that a friend stated was that when that boy got out of the car, my husband should have gotten the license plate and called the police to state that he was threatened. The boys parents would have been notified of his actions and then we could have gotten a restraining orderagainst the kid, sending a message to the others.
I am not worried about the cars, they are in the garage. I do think, however, we should get some small cameras, set them up and watch what is happenning. These kids are drinking, smoking,etcc and the mother across the street knows it. I will beat my kids if they ever behave that way

 

[Proejo]

you may also want to invest in some BRIGHT outdoor motion lighting as well as a camera aimed at your cars if you just leave them in the driveway. Speaking from prior experience. First time it happened we had no proof, and there was nothing that could be done, 2nd and 3rd time we had video tape which led to their arrest, and then our winning a judgement against them for repairs.

Good luck with this. It took about 8 months for our situation to change. It will get much worse before it gets better.

Same here. My car got keyed, so I installed two night vision web cameras set up to motion detection and recording to my computer. I caught the punk the next time. Had his butt arrested and sued the parents in small claims court. I settled out of court and agreed to drop charges if they moved. They moved within two months. Problem solved.

 

[jypsy_rose_lee]

Yes, I can relate,we were both givin some very good advice. Hope it helps!

 

[longsally111]

same kid

I just wanted to update everyone. That kid did not come back for about 2 weeks. My guess is that the neighbor told her som to tell him to stay away. Today, I was backing out of my driveway when I suddenly heard a screech and a horn. The same kid in the same pickup truck came screeching around the corner, almost hitting me. When I looked at him, he smiled at me, laughed and then the kid he was picking up got in the car and they drove off.
I am looking to see how expensive 3 night vision cameras are to get. Hell, you can get them at walmart to watch your kids with monitors for about 40.00. I want to install them and find some way to tape so that when we do call the cops, we are prepared for the vandalism. This one kid has NO respect.

 

[longsally111]

Update

It has been a while and I wanted to update everyone. The situation has NOT improved. The mother knows that we are trying to catch her son and his friends and has "recruited" the other neighbors on our cul-de-sac, the ones with NO cigarettes on their lawns, who NEVER get their driveways blocked due to their location and that have remained on "friendly" terms with the mother.
The teenagers across the street became threatening enough for us not to allow our children to play in the front yard or ride bicycles on the street if they were home at all. We spoke to the police and were told that if they stay on their property and nothing is "thrown" at us and noone physically threatens us, there is nothing we can do.
We now have our home up for sale. I told my agent that if they ask why we are moving, to tell them my husband got a BIG promotion and we want a larger home. I am heart broken as this is the house we built to retire in. I feel sorry for whomever buys this home. It wont be long before they realize what is up with the neighbors.

 

[longsally111]

Burned the neighbor, literally

I had to give another update, I could not believe it. The neighbors son had an auto accident the other night, came home, got into a screaming match with his mother and went outside and started setting off fireworks, using some gasoline as it was raining for days here. guess what happenned****************************.yup, he caught the neighbors house next to his grass on fire. Everyone came out with hoses and tried to put it out before it got to the house. The grass is black in the entire backyard, the deck is damaged and some siding melted. The parents have not made the kid apologize and to top it off, the man whose house almost burned down stated that he knows who did it but the parents are acting like nothing happenned. I cannoe wait to SELL!@!!!!!!!!!

 

[lcannister]

I had to give another update, I could not believe it. The neighbors son had an auto accident the other night, came home, got into a screaming match with his mother and went outside and started setting off fireworks, using some gasoline as it was raining for days here. guess what happenned****************************.yup, he caught the neighbors house next to his grass on fire. Everyone came out with hoses and tried to put it out before it got to the house. The grass is black in the entire backyard, the deck is damaged and some siding melted. The parents have not made the kid apologize and to top it off, the man whose house almost burned down stated that he knows who did it but the parents are acting like nothing happenned. I cannoe wait to SELL!@!!!!!!!!!

Honestly what importance does all this have to a real estate section of a website. Gossip, perhaps a chit chat site somewhere?

 

[longsally111]

telling it like it is

Honestly what importance does all this have to a real estate section of a website. Gossip, perhaps a chit chat site somewhere?

This section is called NEIGHBORS and BOUNDARIES!!! It is not gossip, buy the way, when it happens on my street and affects me, sorry.

 

[Ohiogal]

This section is called NEIGHBORS and BOUNDARIES!!! It is not gossip, buy the way, when it happens on my street and affects me, sorry.

And this site is for LEGAL QUESTIONS that deal with Neighbors and Boundaries. It is NOT a bitch, piss and moan area.