Physical Assault on Board Member

Police issue. Not an HOA issue. Reporting to the management company means nothing as they are not equipped to legally to deal with assault.

Fine? LOL.

Will you feel good about that fine when your in the hospital? Gotta start a paper trail with the police. Let the legal system deal with violence.

Can you have defamation with multiple witnesses?

An unfortunate situation for sure. If the police weren't called then I think you should drop it. There's nothing the board or the management company can realistically do about it. You, on the other hand, should appreciate that you weren't seriously hurt and if you think it necessary perhaps consider applying for a restraining order against the guy. That shouldn't be hard if you've got eyewitnesses.

id still file a report with the police. not too late. provide written statements and contract info from witnesses, and go right down to the station to file a report. police may knock on the guys door to ask him if he did this and not to do it again as they now know too. just having the police knock on his door might make him think twice next time.

I would love to better understand the full story behind this streetlight (starting from when, how, and what considerations/factors when into deciding a light would be installed). This is at least the 3rd or 4th separate post about it, each with the latest drama about the ranting, lunatic neighbor.

Sounds to me like this neighbor is quite unhappy about the light and you may be continually stoking the anger (either intentionally or unintentionally). I'm not saying what this neighbor did is at all acceptable, but perhaps his questions, concerns, and objections about the project were not adequately addressed before things proceeded to this point. From previous posts, it sounds like his opinions were actually dismissed because he is in the minority . . . even though the light is going right in front of his house.

Obviously if this incident had such an effect on you, your son, or other neighbors, then the police should have immediately been contacted.

You can bring up anything you want at a Board Meeting or among neighbors . . . but if you've already relayed to MC and BOD, what else is there to say? Honestly, I'd suggest just letting the contractor finish the work without your involvement or supervision. You've ok'd the project and the work is getting done. My next suggestion is to put a 24/7 camera on the finished streetlight since I foresee a few posts down the road with shock about the new light being vandalized.

NpB,

You might be missing the point about the police involvement.

Nah. I just think you are missing the point.

HOA and police are 2 different sources of authority. They don't overlap. You can speak to one or the other or both.

To win a libel/slander lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the statement was untrue. Since there were witnesses, that's unlikely.

If your biggest concern is how you'll be perceived if you speak out, then let it go.

If I didn't live in an HOA, I would have definitely gone to the police immediately. I haven't wanted to file a police report due to the social and harmony dynamic. If I filed a police report and then read it verbatim at an HOA meeting or mailed it to all owners, how do you think members would react? They would probably think that I am disrupting social harmony. If I don't, and the incident is oralized at a Board meeting (if aggressor starts ranting at Board meeting) or described in an email and sent to all owners, a slander/libel suit could be filed and I would have to drag the two witnesses into my defense--they might not be too enthused.

Let me add... Your always going to feel under threat of a lawsuit in a HOA. Get over it. Until someone actually does file what do you care? 9 times out of 10 it's a passive-aggressive way to handle things. They want you living under their thumb and get what they want... Now there is a clear difference if what they are saying has bearing of truth to it. That is when you need to correct yourself or the HOA's actions/reactions.

There is a saying that when someone goes to jail. Prison guards say that those that are "guilty" will sleep at night. Those that are "NOT guilty" will stay up all night. A guilty person knows they are finally caught and paying for their guilt. An innocent person will keep trying to prove they are not guilty. So how are you acting if you are going to prison?

Here is my advice. You have no choice in being a "victim". You have every choice in "playing" one. So stop with the victim role playing. Attacked? Call the police. Your unit needs a termite check? Let the inspector in. Chips will fall where they will. Which may or may not be under your feet.

Don't think I don't understand what your going through? One of my biggest regrets of being President was keeping the "harmony". The ex-president was such a con-artist. Wish I had called the police when was attacked. Wish I had not did so much to keep the "harmony". I ended up protecting my good HOA members but at the cost of exposing them to the bad ones in the end. They had no idea of the scrupulous behavior the Ex-President was doing.

So if you like living under a thumb, then stay exactly where you are in "peace and harmony". If you want to stop the criminal behavior you call the police and report it. Don't know why the HOA would be even involved as they have no right to the police report in the first place.

Agree with Melissa, he is trying to mix the police matter into HOA matters. Like the statement by Melissa on it takes too much effort to keep harmony, let the mistakes come out and and try to fix them. I don’t see NpB trying to solve anything.

You might want to re-read. I don't see it that way.

Not sure what you want me to re-read.

Around here, if you call the police saying that someone assaulted you, an officer will come out, talk to you and anyone else who was a witness or participant, and ask if you want to file charges.

If the incident happened 6 months ago, the police aren't coming. But if the call to the police is shortly after the incident, they come out.

Maybe it's different somewhere else, but not where I've lived.

Even more reason to contact police now.

Take them to the ground. Mount then ground and pound. There are plenty of options whether you choose to pull guard or not. Just sayin.