The Aftermath: Noisy Neighbors

Welcome to Aftermath, a portion of our First Line email newsletter where Attorney Anthony L. DeWitt walks you through a real-life self-defense incident and shares his key takeaways.

Noisy Neighbors

Many people have had inconsiderate neighbors. In Eureka, California, a resident attempted to do something about it. According to The Mercury News, a homeowner heard a loud discussion outside his home at 2:50 a.m. and went out to tell the revelers to take it somewhere else. When they became aggressive, the man deployed pepper spray … to little effect. He ran inside his home when one member of the group entered to assault him. The defender fired several shots, striking the intruder three times. One of his rounds hit a person still on his porch. Investigators concluded it was self-defense and no arrests were made.

How have you dealt with loud/cantankerous neighbors?

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If I can’t talk to them reasonably, call the police. Going out and arguing with the neighbors at 3AM does not sound very smart to me.

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I see a distinct difference between a “loud discussion” and “revelers”. If it was argument, 911 might have been the better call. No pun intended!

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I call the police. Not my circus, not my clowns. :clown_face::clown_face::clown_face::clown_face:

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I take it there will be more details in the E-mail?? :flushed: :flushed:

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It is fairly sane here. I hear gun shots in the distance from time to time. My neighbors are pretty well behaved.

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I’m not going to put myself in a situation where there might be a confrontation.

I once called the cops, told them my wife needs sleep to prepare to work an early shift.

My taxes working for me.

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Don’t be dumb. Call the police. People know they’re being out of line. If they don’t then they were not raised right and need to learn a lesson.

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Guess “it depends”. Some good ideas herein this string. I’ve tried going to the party, tried to befriend some, asked the condo association for help once when I lived in one, being careful not to risk getting targeted for retaliation. Did once have to reach into my “range” bag, pulled out a nice comfy pair of ear plugs, and got some much needed R.E.M. sleep.
:sleeping: :zzz:

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Thread got me thinking! (I believe that was the point) The one thing that is missing from most if not all of the “what would you do” threads is:

The so-called ’ spidey sense ’ or 'spider sense ’ generally refers to an extraordinary ability to sense imminent danger, a kind of 'sixth sense ’ attributed to the comic-book superhero Spider-Man – though the term long ago escaped the confines of Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter-ego’s fictional universe to enter …

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Interesting. In some college courses on human factors engineering, related to working in nuclear power plants, and the aviation industry, some of the required reading by distinguished scholars sometimes discussed the importance of those senses, which help us “check” - when something does not feel right, it’s for a good reason. I can see how that can relate to personal safety as well, being alert, and making adaptations.

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If you call the cops about something minor it usually takes an hour before they show up . Calling 911 takes a while to explain where you are and the 50 questions they ask while your on the phone . I have called 911 in the past and the cops treated me as the criminal

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Which is why I don’t calll them, too many innocent people have been killed by police and too many people here could careless about that.

I was shot 5 times permanently paralyzed a victim of a violent crime 11 years ago I’ve seen it all there are crazy people in the world all you can do is pray for their souls but protecting yourself should never be a crime

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I’m so sorry to hear about the violence inflicted on you. That’s a tough pill to swallow. :pray:

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@Anthony88
Last time I checked, noisy neighbors only attack our sense of hearing.
As long as you stay home and call the police, it doesn’t have to escalate into a violent situation. No one needs to be unnecessarily shot by the police.

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@Remove I think this story would make for a great analysis where a man was confronted by ANTIFA protesters and appears to be pepper-sprayed. I could see (with hindsight) where arguments could be seen why he should be vindicated or viewed as the attacker. One question is, you’re peacefully asserting your rights to protest, and are attacked. Do you have to leave? Can you stand your ground? What state are you in? Yes, there’s a myriad of things to consider.

End of the day everything is in gods hands god bless all of us

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Thank you for caring you have a great soul god bless you

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I would simply call the police and have self defense in mind for later in my house after the police had left the scene. lights in my house would remain the same as if i were still asleep. I would just remain aware of any backlash from the loud people as if i were unaware of the whole situation. the police in my area will not inform anyone of the callers address or name to identify the caller to the antagonizers.

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