neighbor harrasment of a minor

[Mika]

Greetings to all,

I just signed up in order to get some advise on what to do in my situation. I live in a two family apartment building. My neighbor who lives downstairs constantly harasses me about issues like my puppy (he, himself has a dog) etc. I never know when he is going to open his door (as I walk up the stairs) and start cursing at me, yelling about "the noise" and how he is going to report me, etc. I found that ignoring him is the best way. However, the other day, he stopped my 11 year old daughter and began yelling at her in front of her friends as she was walking out the front door. When she did not respond and went about her business, he got in her face and demanded to know if "she heard him" He also told her that there will be "consequences". After she walked out the front door, he locked her out. She had to wait next door for me to get back home and let her in as she only had keys to our apartment not the front door.

he has a criminal record in another country. He was a part of armed robbery some 20 years ago. I really fear for my daughter's safety and feel powerless to stop him from harassing us. His dog barks at all hours of the day and he has the gall to complain about my 3 month old puppy who sleeps most of the time. He has two kids who make as much noise as my two kids - they are children after all.

Please, any advise will be much appreciated as I want to be free of fear that this guy might do something.

Best

M

I filed a ha

 

[Scooterdog]

Was your child scared? Is your child still scared? You can file for an order of protection, or restraining order if she felt theatened. That will shut him up. Real tough guy screaming at an 11 year old girl.

What is the "ha" you filed?

 

[Mika]

She was very scared given the history with this guy. In fact, since it's happened, every time she comes home from school, she asks her friends to walk her all the way to her door, fearing he might show up again.

I was proud of her for doing what my husband and I instructed her to do should he ever approach her: do not get into any conversations with him. Keep walking and call me or dad. He always harasses me when I am alone or with my two girls. i ignore him. This was the first time he approached my kid when she was by herself. What worried me most is the fact that he has criminal record in another country. Granted, it's from 20 years ago but he loses his temper often with his wife and kids.

I filled "ha"rasment complaint with the local precinct (I don't know why the message was cut off). They did mention order of protection but said that it's tough to get one unless he "does something". I don't want to wait for him to "do something" How do I file for the order of protection and how realistic is it that I obtain one given that there is only one complaint on record (silly me, I thought he'd stop so I figured ignoring him would be the best thing to do).


Thank you kindly for replying to me. All I want is for this jerk to leave me and my family alone.

best

M

 

[T_tops]

Congrats on filing the ha it sounds like it was well deserved.

 

[AuntieCoosa]

I'm no attorney

Okay, I'm a retired Caseworker, but not an attorney.

My suggestion is to document everything that occurs with this neighbor.

My other suggestion will take some courage, but could you consider baking some cookies for you and your husband to take to this guy when his wife is home? I know this is hard to do, but I suggest you make the first move to be nice to him. He may be so used to people being afraid of him that he just acts mean so that others have a reason to dislike him. Maybe he's not had anyone try to be nice to him in a long time. It's worth a try, at least. If he continues to be mean-spirited after you've tried to be nice to him, then you just document everything that occurs between your two families so that if you have to contact an attorney or file an order of protection, you've got dates and times and descriptions.

Good Luck.