Trespasser refused to leave (taxes, live, fence)

[AusParent]

I own a small business and the property where it resides. I came out of the building today with my dog to find an individual with a bicycle in the parking lot photographing the fenced yard area. I asked him to leave. He became belligerent, said he didn't have to leave, and threatened to come back and get me - whatever that meant. When my dog started barking, the individual went to the edge of the property and began screaming profanities. Then he circled the property repeatedly while screaming profanities. This went on for about 20 min.

I had called APD the first time the individual refused to leave. APD said that verbal threats are not high priority. APD still hadn't arrived after an hour and I gave up on waiting. What would you have done under similar circumstances?

I am going to have to fence and gate the parking area.

[Aquitaine]

I'd do just what you did but get a picture of him to give to APD when they do show up. Not a whole lot else you can do.

[CptnRn]

That is disappointing that APD did not respond.

[ashbeeigh]

What area is it? Have you posted on nextdoor to see if anyone else has had any similar experiences?

[turf3]

Wow.


I guess if you see this person again, which you probably won't, you should do...


...What?


Do you have any access to someone with serious muscle? I would think a 6-6 ex-marine telling him to move along might be effective, but you never know when this nut will show back up. You can't have your brother-in-law's huge cousin hanging around day and night on the off-chance that Mr. Nutcase will come back.


How can you fence off and gate the parking area for your small business? How will your customers park - or is it that kind of business?

[Ronaldon]

When the APD don't do their job, is there anybody you can go to next to report both the incident (#1 trespassing, #2 threats) as well as the APD (probably specific officers)?

[centralaustinite]

I would take out my phone and immediately start taping, if I felt truly threatened I would put it on Facebook live. When you call 911 don't say that there is someone there making verbal threats, say that a trespasser is on your property and you feel threatened for your safety.

911 and APD have to prioritize calls, at a quiet time of day they might have been there in 5 minutes or less but if there are other urgent calls happening at the same time? Well verbal threats fall lower in the scale of urgency.

Follow up with your community officer, you should have one. Talk about the incident on your neighbor list serve or merchant's group and/or Next Door. Find out if this is likely a one off or if this person is doing this to others. If this person is homeless and/or mentally ill, he might be known to APD. You can email your community officer. They will respond.

[The Joker 1234]

Originally Posted by AusParent

I own a small business and the property where it resides. I came out of the building today with my dog to find an individual with a bicycle in the parking lot photographing the fenced yard area. I asked him to leave. He became belligerent, said he didn't have to leave, and threatened to come back and get me - whatever that meant. When my dog started barking, the individual went to the edge of the property and began screaming profanities. Then he circled the property repeatedly while screaming profanities. This went on for about 20 min.

I had called APD the first time the individual refused to leave. APD said that verbal threats are not high priority. APD still hadn't arrived after an hour and I gave up on waiting. What would you have done under similar circumstances?

I am going to have to fence and gate the parking area.

I thought that is what guns were for? yes?

[rodentraiser]

Being Texas, I don't suppose telling APD that you "think" the guy has a weapon will get them there any sooner, would it?

Isn't there some sort of law about being profane or out of control in public? I mean, if the guy were yelling like that on a street corner, he'd be asked to quiet down and move along or get a tour of the city jail. And wouldn't he be harassing your customers if he was yelling like that, even if he wasn't on your property? And what's with the long response time, anyway. Police protection is a service and you pay your taxes.

Having said that, in our store we used to be able to ban people from the premises by simply telling them they were banned. Then if they came back on the premises, we could call the cops and have them removed for trespassing. I have no idea if you could do the same thing.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by rodentraiser

Having said that, in our store we used to be able to ban people from the premises by simply telling them they were banned. Then if they came back on the premises, we could call the cops and have them removed for trespassing.

It's more effective if you can get the police to serve them with a "no trespassing" citation. That way there is a record that works similar to a "restraining order."