Stop Cutting Through Our Yard!

This afternoon, I caught two teenage boys cutting through our yard. We have a fence. Frustrating to pay the money to fence your yard and then have two boys clamber over it on one section to enter and then exit through the gate, leaving the gate open! This is the third time (at least) that this has happened. The yard is fenced to keep a dog and toddler in the yard and away from the road. One boy had brown curly-ish hair, the other had straight black hair. We live on Marsh Creek Drive and the boys continued on down Marsh Creek after leaving our home. This is not intended to start a pointless forum about parental control over their kids. I'm just hoping that their parents will see this and ask them not to cut through other people's property. The next time they decide to cut through, they will be photographed and turned in to the proper authorities - I really do not know what else to do to stop this.

 

Shoot them with paint ball pellets.

 

I can understand your frustration. If you want I can send you Sgt. Kerigan's contact info...at the very least these kids are tresspassing and potentially damaging/destructing your property. Or while this is happening you can call Loudoun County Non-Emergency # 703-777-1021...at least you can report it. Hope that this helps.

 

That does help and the contact information would be great to have. Thank you very much.

 

They're not molesting your Christmas tree ornaments are they??

 

This might work with kids too:

http://www.scatmat.com/Products/Scarecrow/


Video of how it works here:
http://www.scatmat.com/Products/Scarecrow/videos.asp

 

Police? Padlocks? A hopeless effort to alert the parents by posting in this forum?

Here's an idea -- why not just ask the boys not to cut through your yard? Why wouldn't you start here? Why would you need to escalate this to the police--who would most likely do absolutely nothing about it--without first trying to resolve the issue on your own?

 

I'd ask them to stop......

by SHOOTING THEM WITH PAINTBALLS! MUHaHAHAhahahahah

And remind them that if this was Texas you'd be within your rights to use a gun

 

My wife (who posted this) DID ask the boys not to come through and was completely ignored. She also asked them what they were doing walking through our yard to which the response was "we're just walking through" (I'm sure you can imagine the tone).

Having spoken to our neighbours it appears that groups of teens have been cutting through our yard on a regular basis - saving perhaps 20 yards off the walk around the corner on the way home from school. Not to mention that they first have to walk through someone else's yard to get to ours.

She was hoping that perhaps someone would read this post and recognise their kids from it and do something about it themselves - as parents are supposed to do. It appears the answer is we all bear the responsibility for teaching some people's children right or wrong because they aren't inclined to do so. That's a shame.

As for padlocking MY gate in MY yard, why do I have to do that? The latches are on the outside where our daughter cannot reach them, the dog hasn't yet mastered the art of opening them either, lacking opposable thumbs.... These kids walked through someone else's yard - climbing a fence to do it - and then left the gate open at least once when they finished. Why is it my job to sort that out and not their parents to explain to them that they shouldn't be doing it?

I raised 3 teenagers previously and never had a problem like this. That might be because respect for other people's property was one of the things I taught them from an early age, might not.

Rant over. Suffice to say that if one day soon you answer your doorbell to a grumpy Englishman with your teen in tow asking for an explanation of why they were on my property, don't be shocked. Be disappointed like I will, if that's how this ends up.

 

Put a Beware of Dog sign up to. Even though they are cutting through your yard that wont stop them from suing you if they get bit by your dog or trip in a hole he/she dug. From a legal standpoint they are trespassing but i would not put it past some people to try to get $$$ from you if something happens to their precious child in your yard.

You could also try running at them with foam in your mouth, yelling and flailing your towel madly while in a bathrobe.

 

Fair enough. That information was left out of the original post. But I still think it would be appropriate to have a friendly neighbor-to-neighbor chat with the kids' parents before involving the police.

For all you know, the parents have no idea the children are doing this and would gladly teach/discipline them if they knew. I don't think posting a vague description in a forum to which not every resident subscribes will do the trick. Since the kids are not listening to you and not respecting your property, you or your wife needs to step up and let the parents know.

It just seems to me that people are so adverse to potential conflict that they would rather pass off their problems to a third party (police/forums/etc.) instead of peacefully resolving their conflicts on their own.

I think it is appropriate to contact the police, as a last resort, only if the parents are apathetic to your concerns.

 

In the initial post Aimee did say that she was just hoping that someone might recognise their kids from the description - and the fact that they almost certainly live in Marsh Creek or one of the roads that branch off of it. It was worth a try.

If the kids keep coming through I will put a stop to it by escorting them home and informing their parents. I'm sure that the parents will resolve things from there without the need for any other parties.

Thanks for the 'beware of dog' suggestion - I'd have to put the note up in my neighbors back yard though for them to see it before they get into my yard though! And anyway, it's not the dog they need to beware of, it's me.

 

hahahahaaaa!

btw- since the sherriff came by our house after the egging incident and told us he would pay a visit to a few known "no-goodniks" (to quote Judge Judy) we haven't had any vandalism or problems with teens.

back to the topic at hand- the dog sign is a great idea. automatic sprinklers would be fun, but they might make the situation worse. lol

good luck!

 

Maybe if it is intentional, but Officer, they just ran through my yard while I was doing target practice, I dodnt see them until it was too late!

 

Nutria - I just sent Aimee a private message that has the HOA Liason's contact information for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Dept. I have worked with Sgt. Kerrigan on issues within the community (he is our POC for the HOA), one of which was related to your wife's post. In the past he has gone to speak with the parents directly, as sometimes it does hold more weight when a uniformed officer is at the front door, vs a neighbor...just a thought...Please let me know if you need anything else.

 

It seems ridiculous to me to elevate this to a police matter. Would you rather have the police detailed to deal with "yard cutters" rather than traffic light abusers? I think they have enough to do on more pressing issues.

 

I can understand your point about elevating the issue,but I respectfully disagree. Sometimes getting the police involved is the only course of action that is left. When the kids do not respond to the homeowners request and potentially the parents unaware of their teenagers actions What would you do?...I ABOSULTELY think that getting the police involved is the most logical course of action. Tresspassing and Distruction of PRIVATE Property is still breaking the law.