One would hope the police would always side with victims, but for one unfortunate woman in Florida, that wasn’t the case. Going by GothicHippie99 on Reddit, she posted her story to r/legal, accusing her neighbor of intentionally trespassing and mowing down her flower garden. The woman claimed she had been endeavoring to cultivate her yard into a certified wildlife habitat, but this incident stripped those dreams away. What’s worse is that when she tried to get help from the police, they allegedly mocked her.
After calling the local police’s non-emergency line, GothicHippie99 connected with an officer who told her less-than-comforting words about her situation. “A deputy called me and told me to ‘thank him’ and that they can’t do anything about someone ‘mowing your lawn for free’ despite giving them history of prior trespassing and inappropriate behavior towards me and having posted ‘no trespassing’ signs,” OP wrote.
The Florida Neighbor Had an Alleged History of Harassing the Woman and Her Husband
GothicHippie99 explained that her neighbor had crashed a New Year’s party and behaved inappropriately. Even though he had been told he wasn’t welcome on her property, that didn’t stop him in the slightest. Although she didn’t share pictures of this man mowing down her flowers, she claims, “I have pictures and videos of him actively trespassing and destroying my property.”
Thousands of Redditors were appalled by this alleged neighbor’s act, and hundreds chimed in to express their sympathy. “Oh I so sorry. I’m establishing a native pollinator habitat and I would be crying if someone did this,” mourned a user. “You need to call the police back and ask for a supervisor. Their response that you described is unacceptable,” exclaimed another.
Others expressed how they would pursue legal action against the neighbor, file a complaint over the deputy’s behavior, or even scheme revenge on the neighbor’s property. One person questioned why GothicHippie99 couldn’t stop him in while he was in the act, to which she responded: “I cannot physically make myself walk outside to confront a drunk man on a riding lawn mower that has already been inappropriate towards me in front of my husband.”
On the bright side, as a commenter put it, the Florida woman now has an opportunity to regrow her natural wildflowers with topsoil or leaf mulch, giving the plants a chance to grow back even better. GothicHippie99 appeared to agree with this opinion, albeit in a sorrowful tone.
“I didn’t look at it this way. Thank you for this perspective,” OP wrote. She added how the damage done and disrespect from the neighbor still hurt her deeply, but she’s hopeful to prevent this tragedy from happening again.
