Expert: Jack Toomey - 4/17/2008

Question
Shortly after we moved in to our new house our neighbor  began to harass us because we removed brush along the property line which was ALL on our side of the fence. He repeatedly made the comment "there goes my f****g privacy". I told him to be patient because I was going to put up a wood fence. The neighbor is on disability and sits out on his porch and drinks all day long. He has threatened to shoot me (several times), put a bomb under my truck, put a hit out on me and cut my head off with a machete. The day he threatened to put a hit out on me I asked him if why he didn't have the nuts to do it himself and he actually exposed himself to me. He has also exposed himself to my teenage boys. One day when I got home from work he had nailed a cross together and hammered it in the ground next to the fence and told me "you see that? that's for you, because you're gonna die motherf**R. I've had the county sheriff out on 5 occasions now and made written reports on the the threats and the neighbor has admitted to making them as well, and nothing has been done to him yet. A couple nights ago he was in the street with a knife telling me meet him the the street (this was 10:45 at night durng the week. A neighbor down the street called the police and yet he is still sitting on his porch drinking himself to a stooper everyday. When my 13 yr old son comes home from school the heighbor harasses him by telling him "I'd be scared if I were you" and telling him F you motherf***er, tell your dad I'm gonna kill him. Needless to say, I did meet him the street but I wasn't holding a knife in my hand either if you know what I mean. The cases have been turned over to a detective but he won't return our phone calls. He will actually run down his driveway flipping me the finger when I get home from work. The guy acroos the street has had problems with him as well but not like I have. This has been going on for 2 years now and I have had my belly full along time ago. Many of the incidents have hapeend in front of others (neighbors, friends,my sister and even my mom). The guy is clearly off his rocker. Now, here is the real kicker. He only rents this house that he lives in. We live in a nice neighborhood where the homes sell foe $180k and up. We live in texas. Can i go after the homeowner to make him move out? I've been to the homeowners assoc. for help also. We need some help with this BAD! Thanks.

Answer
Robert,

   You have mentioned that the police have been there five times.  You have also mentioned that reports have been filed.  That is basically useless unless you do something yourself.  I have no idea what the law is in Texas since I live 1500 miles away and have never been anywhere near Texas.  But surely Texas has a provision where a private citizen can file charges against someone else based on a sworn affidavit.  And surely Texas has some kind of system where a citizen can get another person committed to a mental institution based on sworn testimony.  Also there is a thing called a protective order which prohibits one person from harrassing or coming anywhere near another person.

   Now all of these things that I have mentioned might not be exactly how they happen in Texas but they would be pretty close.  I am surprised that the deputies who have come to your house have not guided you through the process so you can get this guy prosecuted.
If no one is returning your calls I think that I would pay a personal visit to the police station and ask to see someone who has some rank.  Don't bother with the civilian at the desk.  Call ahead of time and ask for an appointment with a supervisor and/or the detective.  It might not be the day that you call but they can't refuse to see you.

  Of course you can go to the homeowner.  He may have no idea that all of these things are going on unless you tell him.  Hopefully you have kept some kind of record or diary of these events because in court you are going to have approximate dates, what happened, what was said, who said it, what was done, etc, etc.