New neighbor more than a bother, he’s a danger

Dear Diane: My husband, daughter and I and our dogs have lived in this hollow for a long time. We do our best to keep the place up and looking nice.

People from the city have been buying up land and building houses for their weekend and vacation getaways. Recently, a man built a place that butts-up against our property. He only stays there on weekends (to “relax,” he claims), and when he’s there he gets very drunk and makes a lot of noise.

Diane, we live in the country; and it’s a dog’s nature to bark. So when the dogs hear that man raising a ruckus, they start barking.

Well, he won’t stop complaining to us about the barking. He has even shown up at our property with a gun, acting like a crazy man and threatening to shoot our dogs if they don’t be quiet. We called the police on him, but he wasn’t arrested.

Diane, my little daughter was present when he did that. Now, when he’s around we don’t go outside. We have even seen him driving up to our fence on his riding mower, giving us the evil eye and yelling at us.

I don’t feel safe anymore with this crazy person running round. What can I do?

— Wants Peace in West Virginia

Dear West Virginia: If you have a video camera (or even a regular still camera), take pictures and document every time this man encroaches on your property — whether he has a gun or not. The more you document his threatening actions, the better chance you’ll have of making a case against him. Keep calling the police when he comes by. Also, talk with a lawyer or public defender to see what can be done to keep this man at bay. Maybe if you keep siccing the law on him, he’ll either move away or get jailed.