(WJBF.com)
Being dedicated to your job is one thing, but there’s quite a distinct line between doing your duty and breaking the law. A county compliance officer in Georgia needed to serve a violation notice on a resident for having grass that was too long in her yard. But instead of waiting until she woke up, he decided to just let himself on in.
The resident said she was sound asleep when the county officer came by and was totally freaked out to wake up and find a strange man in her house telling her what to do.
“He let himself in and actually came through the house and into my bedroom. And yelled at me to wake me up, to let me know that I needed to come back outside and sign the violation notice,” she told WJBF.com. ”I woke up, I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in and all I see is this big burly figure standing in my doorway. A big huge guy with a grey shirt. It scared the mess out of me.”
She called the Sheriff’s Office to file a complaint, and the man’s boss says he’s aware of the situation and is investigating. The compliance manager added that his officers cannot enter someone’s home without their permission, even with probable cause.
She caught the whole thing on tape, thanks to a home surveillance system, and says she feels her privacy was invaded by the county.
“I could have been coming fresh out of the shower. I mean, if I’m not answering the door, maybe it’s because I can’t hear you because I’m in the shower,” she said, adding that she would also worry about officers walking into an unsafe situation. Hey, she could’ve been an armed and dangerous person!
She knows she has to cut the grass in her yard, however, and says she’s working on getting her lawnmower fixed.
Code Enforcement Officer Walks Into Home [WJBF.com]
More From Consumerist
-
New York AG To Sue Bank Of America, Wells Fargo Over Alleged Violations Of National Mortgage Settlement
-
Safeco Waits 57 Days To Inspect House Under Fungus Attack, Only Pays 5% Of Repair Costs
-
Former Staffers: Bank Of America Rewarded Us For Lying To Homeowners, Losing Paperwork, Denying Modifications
-
American Family Insurance Cancels Man’s Policy: Having A Trained Police Dog Is Too Risky
-
TSA Calls Out 6 Boston Bag Screeners For Being Too Distracted By Cellphones To Actually Screen Bags
Lawsuit for breaking and entering in 3.2.1…
Lawsuit, yes after arrest of the individual and his firing. This is not a “mistake”.
Oh yes, that is a foregone conclusion in my mind. He should be arrested and thrown in jail. She has evidence that it happened and the state should be pursuing charges. She shouldn’t even have to lift a finger.
Want to bet she doesn’t have to lift a finger?
I bet he gets a verbal warning and has to undergo some more training. Until she files a lawsuit.
Key there was shouldn’t. She’s going to have to call the local prosecutor or whatnot. I’d have him arrested that day if it was me.
You do realize that even if he had broken in with the intention of stealing, it is not likely he would serve jail time?
I always love how people talk lawsuit. Guess who pays for that lawsuit? That’s right the TAXPAYERS. Good plan there.
Oh. So we shouldn’t sue wrongdoing public officials because, gee. it’ll cost us moneeeeez!!!11
Not to say you’re one, personally…but this sounds like TEA Party fiscal logic, taken to it’s logical extreme.
…and you sound like a typical big-government facist that just <3s theft.
I think the point he was trying to make was that suing officials is a flawed system when the offending party isn't held accountable for their actions and, instead, the general populace is made to suffer.
42 USC 1983 allows for the offending officer to be sued in an individual capacity.
You are not allowed to file a civil suit against any officer of the court who was acting in that capacity at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.
Wrong!
He wasn’t acting in his capacity!
He went outside of his capacity when he illegally entered & can be arrested civilly sued!
You do realize that municipalities generally carry insurance that pays out for lawsuits, right? Or, if they’re self-insured, they generally have a means of planning for these things.
Furthermore, this is a chance for people to keep their government in check. If agents of the government could do whatever they wanted without being subject any available remedial actions there would be no incentive to correct said action. Hence, it’s a deterrent put in place to prevent this type of thing from happening. Since it happened, they should avail themselves to the applicable remedies.
Taken to the extreme though, every lawsuit involving government costs taxpayers money. Should we just stop having lawsuits? When the government was enjoined from censoring press, that lawsuit cost the government, and thus taxpayers, money. Granted there was no monetary damage, but it still did cost money. Should that lawsuit have proceeded? I hope you can see what I’m getting at here.
What business is it of the government if she’s cut her grass? Is it their property? She has signed no agreement stating that she would cut her grass according to their standards. If the neighbors don’t like it, tough. Move into an HOA where people voluntarily enter into an agreement to do these things.
The compliance officer is lucky she wasn’t armed. If I had woken up to one of those thugs standing over me, they would have likely been shot (thankfully, I live in a state with Castle Doctrine). I think it is time for a Section 1983 lawsuit.
A lot of localities have laws re
A lot of cities have laws requiring you to cut your grass.
Just because something has become the standard doesn’t make it right.
Yes, they can and do fine you for not cutting your grass – even in bastions of freedom like Texas.
She could have researched the laws before buying the property. Fining people who refuse to cut their grass (or cutting it for them and then sending the bill) is not at all unreasonable.
It is unreasonable because it is an assault on property rights. She has not signed any agreement with the government that stipulates that she will cut her grass. Not cutting her grass does not violate anyone’s fundamental rights of person or property and thus does not justify the use of aggression or force.
There are these new things called laws which don’t require any assent on your part to be enforced. She didn’t sign anything saying she wouldn’t shoot people randomly, either.
Shooting someone is a violation of that person’s right to person. Not cutting your grass is not a violation of anyone else’s rights because there is no right to have your neighbor cut their grass.
Long grass and tall weeds are breeding grounds for bugs and seeds that can make their way to neighboring properties. It’s more than just a cosmetics issues. If you don’t want to live in a ‘community’ then head out to the sticks.
Also the whole property value issue (not huge, but it does impact others).
Plus I’ll piggyback on that and mention that my yard is constantly invaded by the vines and pokeweed from my neighbors yard. Not to be too melodramatic, but my neighbor never mows his yard, so the pokeweed grows over the fence (which I built specifically to try to keep the weeds out) and spreads to my yard. Pokeweed is extremely poisonous to kids and pets (and adults but they can avoid it better). Plus there is a little poison ivy here and there too and I’m really allergic.
So long story short, not cutting your grass does impact other people’s right to safety.
If your neighbor’s weeds are invading YOUR property, then you have a legitimate case. This is different than a rule that says you have to cut a grass because in this case, it is the resulting consequences (the violation of your right to control your property) that are being punished.
But there is a big difference between saying it is illegal not to cut your grass and it is illegal to have your weeds invade your neighbors property.
One act eventually leads to the other, though. Do you not believe pre-emptively striking would save a lot of time? I’m not suggesting we fine people who don’t cut their grass for a couple of weeks, but why wait until the problem actually occurs? Furthermore, tall, unkempt grass attracts wildlife, which is not desirable in a suburban area.
Ah pre-crime what a great idea!
I think the phrase is “an ounce of prevention…” Like AstroPig said, if you don’t cut your grass, weeds will invade your neighbors property, so get them to cut their grass before the weeds invade and you have a really big mess.
It’s the same reason they have signs that you can’t pass a car on a winding road. They’re trying to prevent crashes.
Your name plus your mention of the Castle Doctrine lets me know you are a Tucsonan. Your inability to understand why cities have ordinances to ensure you don’t neglect your property to the detriment of your neighbors home values tells me you probably live in South Tucson.
You can always use it to shrink your tumors.
The Government thug would need a warrant or probable cause etc to even enter her house. So it would have been within the Law & her rights to protect her self so it would have been a lesson learned if she shot him as an intruder.
I have not signed an agreement with the government that I will not punch you, but I’ll still be in trouble with the law if I do.
Yeah, and she should have forseen that her lawnmower was going to breakdown so she could have a fresh one ready to go.
As for your opinion that it is reasonable to fine for uncut grass outside of an HOA situation, well, I disagree.
I would also point out that she was on disability and barely making ends meat.
The last thing she needs is to be further victimized by the government. I would point out that the homeowner is a U.S. Army vet who was medically discharged from the service and then thrown to the wolves, left to fend on her own while she suffered from depression. If the US government is going to steal my money to invade other countries, the least they can do is take care of those who put their lives on the line (certainly none of the politicians have the guts to fight their own wars). It is infuriating that government bureaucrats, with their fat cat unions, get better pay and benefits than soldiers.
I for one wish for the ability to “make ends meat”. Delicious Filet Mignon, actually.
You raise a very valid point. Our government requires our men and women in uniform to do whatever is ordered of them 24/7, but won’t offer the decency of what they promise them. Most notably of those is the free healthcare for life.
Instead, our veterans get some half-assed version of healthcare sourced by the lowest bidder and staffed by medical “professionals” who aren’t able to work in their own industry in the private sector, due to lack of education, experience, or any other standard applicable to private-sector health practitioners.
Granted, many VA employees are well-intentioned and want to help their patients, but the government won’t spend the extra money to pay well-qualified doctors and nurses that can actually PASS medical board exams, should they be required to, let alone pay the money on facilities and medical equipment. Many veterans also have special medical conditions that require extra expertise and facilities for their treatment too.
Sweet fancy Moses, this is offensive.
I agree. If the gov is going to steal my money to invade other countries at least I should be secure in my home…especially from sand for brains “compliance” officers. This one should get fired and then there would be a job opening for a returning vet who will not break and enter and yell at people.
Or the woman on disability should sue the ever loven stuff out of this compliance officer and the municipality and then buy a shiny new riding lawn mower in addition to paying off any other bills she may have.
Did you even RTFA? Her lawn mower broke. It wasn’t some sort of protest against big government.
Yay our big tuff gun toter is here. I feel much safer knowing that you’re out there to correct the officer by not using any excessive force in that situation.
“I feel much safer knowing that you’re out there to correct the officer by not using any excessive force in that situation.”
You mean that situation where someone flat out enters a home where they were not invited? Where they actively seek out and yell at the occupant? That’s a pretty damn serious situation right there. I am not a violent person, but I would have greeted him with the large butcher knife I keep next to my bed. If I owned a gun, it would have been the greeter.
Initial insticts would dictate a fight or flight response, and that’s normal. Looking at it though with the facts, shooting the person would be excessive force.
My wife is pretty much legally blind without her glasses. Meaning she can’t even see me clearly at about 2 feet away. If some large strange man burst into our house and began yelling at her, waking her up out of a deep sleep, and if we owned a gun, I’d seriously not begrudge her blowing a hole in him.
Fact – stranger breaks into your house.
How does this not warrant deadly force? It happened to be a code enforcement officer this time but next time it may not be.
Do you have a lot of people you don’t know walking into your house enough to assume that someone breaking in means you no harm?
I don’t. I assume anyone who breaks in wants to hurt or kill me. If I was in a situation where I believed my life was in danger I’d use any amount of force available to me.
It is possible that there is a medical emergency, the house appears to be on fire, etc. Both of these situations may warrant someone entering your place of residence and yelling.
Wait – waking up disorientated with a complete stranger over my bed yelling at me for god knows why doesn’t call for a extreme response? If that was me, fuck yes I’m going for the biggest weapon I have on hand.
Touchy discussion here…
I think what he means is that “shoot first, ask questions later” may not be the best approach for everything. You may regret starting a killing spree in your house after you find out that a police officer had reasonable cause that you may be in peril.
It’s highly situational. In this case, the sheriff confirmed that his officers are not allowed to enter other people’s homes without their permission, so clearly her side is right. Law officers have SOPs they need to follow before they decide to enter uninvited.
Frankly I agree with that part of it. I’m perfectly OK with the city enforcing reasonable maintenance of vegetation in a residential area, but if some code drone walked into my house in the manner described, he’d be lucky if only the dog got him. (Odds are he’d never make it to my bedroom from either door, she doesn’t like people walking in the house without one of us.)
An adult stupid enough to enter an unknown house uninvited and unannounced in the manner described is probably not beneficial to society. Don’t head off into falsely equivalent scenarios like saving a baby from a fire, we’re talking about some nitwit breaking into someone’s house in the absence of any emergency, to tell them to cut their grass.
Because tall grass harbors insects and vermin. If you want to live in a “wild” area there are plenty of rural areas she can live in. If she wants to live near humans, there are rules that she must abide.
He status as a Veteran, while sad, is irrelevant unless she is going to use it as a mitigating factor when contesting the fine.
You voluntarily live in place with LAWS and codes. You can not build a house that does not meet fire codes. You can not allow your home to become blighted. YOUR failure to shovel snow, cut grass, trim trees, clean your yard all have a negative effect on MY property. A city/county/township has EVERY right and reason to make sure she is doing what she signed up for when she bought the property
The issue at hand is not whether or not the fine is reasonable. She even says in the linked article; “I understand them having to deliver the violation notice.” The issue is that someone came into her house (and her bedroom!) without her permission or knowledge.
By living in an area with residential parking, I have tacitly agreed to pay for any tickets I receive if I violate those regulations. But I sure would hope that doesn’t give parking enforcement the right to come into my house to demand that I sign a ticket.
Arguing about whether or not she needs to mow the lawn isn’t the critical part here. For reasons completely unrelated to anyone’s *immediate* health or safety, someone broke into this woman’s house and violated her privacy.
Our landlord once hired some guys to come and work on a leaky pipe in our bathroom. He did not tell us this. My roommate came home to find three strange men in our apartment. Even telling me about it hours later I could see that she was still shaken by the incident. Not cool.
Well, down here it causes rats, snakes, and causes people to suspect the house is empty and they often get their outside central AC unit stolen in the middle of the night. Down here the weeds and vines can take over and grow taller than the first floor of the house too. So there are very good reasons to have a law requiring the grass to be cut. If only the banks that owned foreclosed properties actually had to follow that law…
Quit paying your taxes and you will find out damn fast who actually owns your property.
Good thing she had the surveillance cameras. They would have called her a liar. What a maroon. This guy needs to lose his job, pronto. He could have caused a whole cascade of very bad things to happen. Not the least of which is a homeowner feeling very badly for shooting him. Twice. In the head.
Perhaps this was an attempt to burglarize the house under the pretext of delivering a summons and he was surprised when she was at home.
Who leaves their door unlocked like that?
“”I could have been coming fresh out of the shower”
Worse, you could own a gun and had gone into reaction mode and killed the server – and would have been rather justified in that action.
“I woke up, I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in and all I see is this big burly figure standing in my doorway. A big huge guy with a grey shirt. It scared the mess out of me.”
I don’t know what this guy was thinking. This is a good way to get a few shotgun shells unloaded into you.
This. My husband is a truck driver, and I am by myself (with the large dog in the little photo) quite a bit. One time a bear caused a ruckus on the front porch, and it sounded like someone trying to break in. My dog was already downstairs in the living room baring teeth and growling, and I came down the steps with my .357 loaded with hollow points, ready to defend myself. State Police are 30 minutes away, and unless the township police officer is on duty, we’re on our own. I was scared shitless!
This guy is lucky he didn’t pull this on someone’s home who was armed and prepared. It might have ended badly for him.
I hear ya. I have a pump shotgun with the shortest, non-NFA, barrel I could find. Look into one, they are cheap and way better than a pistol IMO. Lot of room for error with a pistol. (Good caliber choice though)
I wouldn’t go down the stairs either. I’d grab the gun and position my self so I would not be in front of the door but be able to shoot anyone if they walk through.
Aim that thing about 3.5-4 feet up and wait for them to come to you. If you go after them, there is a chance they could see you first. Then they could disarm you or kill you.
As long as you are fixed on the only way into your area and can most likely shoot them before they could even see you, you have an excellent chance of making it.
I’m with you. The distinctive sound of a round being chambered into a pump shotgun is very recognizable to even the dumbest criminal. It has that authoritative “I’m going to do serious bodily harm to you if you persist in what you are doing” sound.
I’ll have to get a pump action shotgun. Mine is a 12g over/under, so there’s really no clicking unless I snap it together loudly.
Remington Model 870 Express Tactical. Affordable, customizable and an extremely well designed gun.
Or a Mossberg 500/590. I prefer those due to the better safety and slide release locations.
Wow – on sale at Cabela’s, and WalMart sells them too? I’d love to see one in person and handle it. I find my 12 gauge a little heavy, but this one looks shorter and easier to handle.
LOL! One of my criminology instructors (career cop, retired now) said to us “Get a shotgun, and if you hear someone in your house, just rack it. Every burglar in the world knows that sound.”
Anyone who’s been around guns knows that sound! It would put the fear into me, that’s for sure. Plus, 7 shots in the Remington vs two in my 12 gauge. That’s a bonus right there.
All I can say is it was something like 2 or 3 AM, and I was scared, but not scared enough to stay upstairs. I guess after the poor old guy in town was hacked to death with a hatchet by the druggie girl next door, a gang banger wanna be, I made up my mind I wasn’t going to go out that way.
“This is a good way to get a few shotgun shells unloaded into you.”
Came here to say this.
Oh and, I just did some more research on this Code Enforcement Officer.
He is an upstanding citizen :
1.He used to be a deputy for a neighboring county’s Sheriff’s Office but he was forced to resign after he was caught to and admitted stealing a laptop from the evidence locker.
2.He allowed his brother to borrow his badge; his brother went and then used it to intimidate people in a barfight.
One would think that people being hired as law enforcement officers would at least undergo a background check. I mean, I found this with 5 minutes of Googling.
County Compliance Officer = glorified grass height measuring person. Still, a little background check should have found this stuff, although it’s hard to tell who hired him. Could have been another relative.
This job was probably a demotion.
Also, many times when they should do a check, they don’t. A couple of years ago, our ice rink hired a skating coordinator and apparently didn’t do it. They found out he had been fired previously for groping teenage girls only AFTER he did it to a couple of them here.
The city has the position up for hire again. I hope they learned a lesson; working with kids means you get your ass checked.
It’ll be the carb. It’s always the carb. Stupid ethanol in the gasoline.
Also, the DA is refusing to charge the “Code Enforcement Officer” because apparently this doesn’t classify as Criminal Intent (Hint to DA : Learn what Mens Rea and Actus Rea are. Learn what B&E is under common and statutory law. Learn how the criminal intent (mens rea) is satisfied merely by the intent to enter the home. This is 1L stuff.)
This is ridiculous, and I’m definitely not blaming this poor woman, but…
She has a security system but doesn’t bother to lock her front door? Wut?
I do the same thing. The only thing a locked door provides is another expense if someone breaks in.
For pete’s sake people. I know it’s rural and the friendly south and all, but you really should lock your doors overnight and if you’re home alone. Next time, it might not be a compliance officer, it could be someone out to hurt you.
If someone really has the intent to hurt you, a locked door is not going to stop them.
It might, if they’re going down the block trying doors.
She has surveillance cameras but sleeps with the front door unlocked? I’m surprised at the number of folks in my town who never lock their doors.
“The compliance manager added that his officers cannot enter someone’s home without their permission, even with probable cause”. Probably cause? He’s apparently a guy that fines people for not mowing their grass and putting their trash on the curb correctly. “I have probable cause to believe ….your grass is too long”?
I’m guessing they do collections as well. Probable cause meaning that I know you are in there but are pretending to not be home so you don’t have to pay.
I don’t care who he claimed to be. He broke into the house. Either pick up the phone and call the cops, pick up a lamp and bash his skull in, or both.
Oops. Sorry about that, I guess the door was unlocked. Lock your damn door!
It is still breaking and entering, even if the door is unlocked.
Yes, but I think he looks like he would have stayed outside if the door was locked and we wouldn’t be here talking about it. Just my hunch.
She did call the cops.
I don’t want to listen to the video at work, but reading the article it almost sounds like she called the cops long after he left in order to lodge a complaint rather than in the moment while yelling and throwing in a little white lie that it looks like he has a knife.
IANAL but I believe the offense is ‘trespassing’ as the definition of ‘breaking and entering’ is entry of the purpose of committing an offense (eg theft).
I think breaking and entering is an offense unto itself, and if there is intent to (or the action of) commit theft, it would be burglary.
Ugh… very poorly edited. “… intent to commit theft (or actual commision of theft)” would still be kinda stilted but less wrong.
I received a citation for having excessively long grass a few years back, but it came in the mail.
Free toilet paper.
Yeah I figured that would be how it went, can’t believe they pay a guy to hand deliver these notices.
I blame the OP. Should have cut the grass . . .
Not cutting your grass is no invitation to breaking and entering. I have a handgun in my drawer, I would have shot him. You wake up to a man yelling at you who you don’t know in your own home? Shoot him. Not to kill, but you have no idea why he was there.
I don’t disagree completely, but whenever you put your finger on that trigger the intent should be to kill. Whether it’s hunting, protection or a piece of target paper. You don’t shoot someone to not hurt them.
Just like my daddy taught me… “don’t ever point a gun at anything you don’t intend to kill.” Depending on the state you may be better off killing them, then there’s no question of the lying shitbag coming up with “Oh, I heard someone calling for help.”
This guy is crazy. It is not exactly that rare for this guy to be looking down a long dark barrel. This guy is lucky, 1 he still has a job, 2 has unsoiled pants, 3 didn’t get seriously hurt.
Stay out of people’s houses unless your invited, have a warrant or it’s an emergency. Telling someone there grass is to long is not an emergency
“Code Compliance Officers cannot enter someone’s home without their permission, and that even if they had probable cause to enter”
You need a warrant to enter a house not probable cause. Probable cause does not apply because the house can not move or disappear unlike cars. If a police officer says that they have probable cause to enter your house they are bs’ing you.
You don’t need a warrant in Indiana anymore.
My husband and I just got a gun for home protection. He’s known how to use one forever but since I didn’t, he took me to the gun range where police officers teach people how to use guns. After two months of being taught how to use a gun, I’m a damn good shot. My husband goes to work early and had this guy come into my house, he’d be one sorry SOB. They better charge him and make an example out of him.
Chomper, sic balls!
It’s Chopper, not Chomper. Although that would produce the same effect.
Don’t mess with Jay Santos
Um, wasn’t the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, a code enforcement officer?
Yes.
The only reason she should be forced to cut her grass is if it was a fire hazard.
As for the breaking in, I home criminal charges are made,
Critter hazard. Where I live the requirement is an average height of 12 inches before code compliance can fine you, and if you don’t resolve the issue they can come and mow it for you, at $250 per mowing visit. Tall grass provides habitat for mosquitoes, snakes, verminous rodents, etc.
A strange man entering a woman’s home while she is sleeping is a critter hazard? No he is a criminal who entered her home unlawfully.
Um, try reading the comment to which I replied, in which evilpete posited that the only reason the gov’t should be able to force you to cut your grass is if it’s a fire hazard.
Tall grass attracts rats and stuff. Most cities have ordinances against it. Although, from what I’ve seen around my *shabby* neighborhood, it has to be pretty tall for a while before they’ll cite you. You don’t want rats in the house next door to you, because then you’ll have them too.
If a Strange Intruder had broken in my house he wouldn’t be worried about his job or being sued most likely. If anyone is stupid enough to try breaking in with me home I will be in fear of my life.
If it had been my house, he’d have been shot. I am far from a gun nut, but I live alone and am well-trained with my weapon.
“You do realize that even if he had broken in with the intention of stealing, it is not likely he would serve jail time?”
Nonsense. In California, residential burglars go to prison. The penalty is two, four or six years in prison. Except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served, probation shall not be granted.
Because of his uniform people will yell at her for not respecting his “Authority”. I hope she gets a lawsuit going and then as a settlement says, “No money if you fire him with the lowest legal severance possible. Also fire any supervisors who try to brush this off.”
Plus what the hell? Any government worker who’s time is so valueless as to be handing out mowing tickets should have their entire position eliminated.
Too bad she didn’t have a shotgun bedside.
I actually live in the same city/county where this happened. Here’s the catch: the guy used to be a police officer for many years in the same city. The bottom line is that he should have known better.
I would have called 911 immediately and said I was sleeping and a strange man came into my house, end of story. Why could the cops not come and arrest the guy for unlawful entry?
This nice lady needs to go to this website:
http://the-backup.com/
He’s lucky he didn’t get shot.