Officer marches into woman's home and yells at her to wake up because her grass is too long

[n2doc]

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 14:54 EST, 9 July 2012 | UPDATED: 15:48 EST, 9 July 2012

A woman got the shock of her life when she woke up to find a stranger in her bedroom, yelling at her to wake up because her grass was too long.

Erica Masters was asleep when Columbia County Code Compliance Officer Jimmy Vowell entered her Martinez, Georgia, home without permission to serve a violation notice for her overgrown lawn.

After knocking on the woman's door a few times, Vowell let himself and made his way into her bedroom, which was captured on surveillance video.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2171130/Enforcement-officer-enters-womans-home-yells-wake-grass-long.html

[snooper2]

1. Bubba is going to get his belly shot pulling shit like that

[frylock]

3. yep..

dood is going to find himself facing down the business end of a gauge if he doesn't check his behavior real soon.

[DevonRex]

39. Yup. Nt

[Honeycombe8]

84. Yessiree, Bubba. nt

[xxqqqzme]

2. Looks like he could use walking behind a mower

to lose a few extra pounds.

[Posteritatis]

12. He's lucky he's not spending time underneath one if he pulls stunts like that. (nt)

[lunasun]

4. no criminal charges? wtf! better mow you lawn in that county or else

[Raine]

86. Ops posted in wrong place. nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. I despise the American custom of green lawns

If I had a choice, I'd build an eight-foot wall around my home the way they do in Europe where no one can see what I'm doing and put gravel on the ground instead of grass.

[wendylaroux]

8. lol,me and hubby just saying the same thing

put down gravel,maybe some yucca and call it a day. Sounds good to me.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

52. Plant trees.

Then at least you have shade and SOMETHING is taking CO2 out of the air.

[4th law of robotics]

19. I intend, when I can actually afford thinsgs like a lawn,

to have some small flat area for hanging out outside (gazebo type, with a bit of grass and a grill) and dedicate the rest towards productive gardening (suited to the environment).

[hlthe2b]

78. So if you plant english ivy or some other ground cover..... what do they do about that?

[Sirveri]

80. The HoA will complain, then sue you and take your house.

Don't live under an HoA.

[4th law of robotics]

91. Not sure

HOAs are not bound by rationality.

[AndyTiedye]

31. Vegetable Garden

We have been doubling the size of our vegetable garden for each of the past several years.
Not a lot of lawn left.

[HotRodTuna]

72. Move to Arizona or Southern Utah

Then you can have dirt instead of grass.

Lots of homes in California have courtyards as well. I like grass, it just sucks to mow.

[Blanks]

79. I have 3 acres and don't mow at all...

I relocate my electric fence so that the horses have access to the grass in various places on the lot.

I even have a temporary opening in my fence so that I can let the horses eat the grass on the county right of way.

I gather up the manure and use it in my garden (unless my free range chickens spread it out too thin), and I have small cages for chickens so they can get the areas around my fruit trees where the horses would eat the branches and leaves.

How important is a short lawn going to be when gas is $20 a gallon? I'm preparing for that eventuality while learning to garden organically.

No time like the present to prepare for the future. Goats eat grass and require only about an eighth of an acre for grazing.

[Raine]

87. Such a waste of water resources. nt

[petronius]

6. I wonder how he let himself in - do code compliance officers have master keys?

Hard to understand why he wouldn't be facing some charges, trespassing at least...

[Gold Metal Flake]

7. "...captured on surveillance video" Huh?

Who has surveillance cameras inside their home? Isn't that unusual? Or is that a thing nowadays?

On edit: pix of house with surveillance cameras inside:

[Posteritatis]

11. If I lived someplace where people felt they could do that, I'd have internal security too. (nt)

[Gold Metal Flake]

48. Who said this was such a place?

First example I have heard of. Of course, the dweller might have some sort of super-duper ability to see the future and enough spare change to wire up the house. And yet, the home dweller did not have sufficient security infrastructure to keep the door closed.

A deadbolt might have prevented the intrusion.

Good that she has the video, but, then the story says there will be no charges. This is an odd story.

[PoliticAverse]

54. Wouldn't you first lock the front door ? n/t

[permatex]

17. It's becoming more and more prevalent.

We have two security cameras outside, one looking at our driveway/garage and one looking at our front door, also have one in our entranceway and one looking at the door leading out to our garage.

[Gold Metal Flake]

50. But inside?

This is beyond nanny-cams.


More like reality show cams.

[permatex]

9. If this asshole

had walked into my house unannounced and I was asleep, he might very well have been shot with my 12g.

WTF was this idiot thinking? What does he think he is, a wanna be cop?
He's lucky to still be walking.

[blueamy66]

36. ex-deputy

enough said

[Ikonoklast]

10. That is one very lucky-to-be-alive dumbass right there.

He'd be room temperature an stiff right now if he entered my home without my permission, was in my bedroom and woke me up from a sound sleep.

I'd have shot him where he stood.

There's a loaded P90 within reach of my hand in my bedroom, all the time, and it's there for a reason.

[truebrit71]

15. Nice weapon!

The ammo can be expensive though, no?

[Ikonoklast]

24. Nah. I have a buddy that has a commercial reloader...in his basement.

Not saying that he shoots *a lot*, but he does.

At least, more than I do, but he has a lot of coin and is retired now, so he has the time to do so.


Set up the machine, do a test run, re-check the specs to make sure they're all good, then...ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk....


It is nothing to run a batch of 10,000 pistol round re-loads, three hours, tops.

[truebrit71]

41. Wow...

...nice!

[4th law of robotics]

20. Large strange man coming in uninvited to a sleeping womans room, yep

seems about the perfect scenario to claim (legitimately) a fear for your life and to exercise self-defense.

[Ikonoklast]

28. My daughter would have fucked that guy's shit up.

She put one dumbass that touched her without her permission in the hospital, and 'Ol Tubby there would have made a nice, loud thud as he hit the deck, knocked clean out.

He would have needed a paper cup to pick up his teeth like the last guy did.

Although she knows perfectly well how to use a firearm, as do my two sons, she doesn't need to use one...she *is* the weapon.

[blueamy66]

32. I might not be the "weapon", but....

my hockey stick and baseball bat will suffice

This story is all kinds of f**ked up.

[Ikonoklast]

38. Daughter got her education through a ride for playing fast-pitch.

I'd hate to see what she'd do to a jerk like that with one of her aluminum bats, using her fists was bad enough last time.

[blueamy66]

45. I played fast pitch....couldn't hit for crap

As my Dad would say, I was all glove, no stick.

But I think I could hit a grown man with my stick....

[Ikonoklast]

49. Daughter was a line-drive hitter.

And quick. Could beat the throw to first on a good bunt because of those quick feet.

But her real talent was her arm.

She has a cannon for a throwing arm.

When you can throw out the runner at home from left field, it gets people's attention.

[blueamy66]

68. oh yeah!

I'm sure she gained alot of attention!

Me, I played 3rd and 1st. Had an arm too, but, like I said, couldn't hit for shit. I always swung late and if I got a hit, it went to right field.

Oh well, had a blast playing!!!!

looking at my bat right now

[oneshooter]

82. You can't do that. That would make you Judge, Jury and Exicutioner

That's what they are saying about this guy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/117248431

You should NOT touch him.

Oneshooter

[Ikonoklast]

83. Sorry, analogy fail. SYG not applicable as Castle Doctrine would over-rule it.

I think most people here would use whatever force deemed necessary against an unknown person in their bedroom.

[L0oniX]

96. S&W MP9 within reach of my hand in my bedroom all the time as well.

[Strelnikov_]

13. BTK serial killer was a compliance officer

If they have actual cops in this backwater they should be looking at this guy.

[Tom Ripley]

14. First thing I thought of

It would be wise to heed your advice

[msanthrope]

70. First thought that came to me....BTK. nt

[4th law of robotics]

16. Living in Georgia he should know better

good chance you'll get shot doing stuff like that.


And it would be perfectly legal.

[Zalatix]

23. Three letters for that:

S
Y
and
G

[KansDem]

29. I agree, SYG would be an acceptable response...

...even in the grass on that ground was a little too high.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. here in Alabama, too.

how the hell did he get into the house?
was the door unlocked?
Hate to admit it, but I keep my doors locked ALL the time, even when home with the dog.
Habit from many years of living alone.
Plus we live at end of long driveway and are not visble to neighbors, which can be great but also can be a security issue.

[jtuck004]

63. I keep mine locked - to protect the dogs. <G> n/t

[RebelOne]

35. Yes. He was lucky this was not in Kennesaw, Georgia.

I lived there for a while and all homeowners are mandated to own firearms. It is the law to shoot first and ask questions later. I live next door in Woodstock and it is not much different, though there is no law that we must own a firearm.

[boston bean]

18. high on authority. Does the link have the video? nt

[snappyturtle]

101. Yes it does....all the way down the page . nt

[surrealAmerican]

21. Apparently, this man does not know how to leave a note on the door.

He should be charged with trespassing, and lose his job for his incompetence.

[Zalatix]

22. Moments like this are what validate the existence of the Gungeon.

Who here WOULDN'T have shot this guy for intruding?

[HopeHoops]

26. I've got dogs to handle that sort of situation.

[NNN0LHI]

37. I had a cat who would have eaten that good ole boy alive pulling that stunt

He doesn't like trespassers. Two legged or four wouldn't make any difference. He would have gone in for the kill.

Watched him beat up and chase two big hound dogs out of the yard and down the block once. He was so mad he came back and gave each on my dogs a crack in the head just for good measure.

Big old Morris cat who came with this house when we bought it. He was living under the porch when we moved in.

He would whack the hell out of my leg just for walking too near him. And draw blood. He was a cranky old cat. Had to put him away when company came over or he would have chased them out the door..

Don

[HopeHoops]

44. I had one that chased ANYTHING out of the yard, including a 100 lb chow.

The only time I ever saw him cornered was when three large black dogs led by a brain-damaged rotty cornered him on the porch. Our 25 lb cock-a-peagle ran out the door and chased the assailants up over the hill. It's a good thing they didn't look back.

He was also a "Morris" cat and had an attitude. Man I miss him. He didn't have front claws (found him that way) but dogs didn't know that.

[NNN0LHI]

46. I only found one thing this old cat couldn't handle

A pig got loose from the slaughterhouse once and ended up in our back yard. Cat went after this 1000 pound pig but when he got close enough to smell him and look into its eyes that cat retreated.

That pig would have stomped him into a grease spot if he had kept going.

Don

[HopeHoops]

65. Mine would have thought - "Yum. Bacon."

[Ikonoklast]

47. Ha! We inherited "Tank", a huge old one-eared tomcat that lived under our deck.

He came with the house when we bought it.

Tank was a big brown tabby, and built like his namesake.

He used to amble down the sidewalk liked he owned it.

Had plenty of female admirers, too.

We currently have one of his sons in the house. Looks just like his daddy.

Never saw him run, for any reason, ever...until the neighbors Great Dane came into my yard to take a dump one day.

I was looking out the sliding door into the back yard, just about to yell when I saw a streak come out from under the deck heading straight at that dog like a brown torpedo.

Tank chased him out of the yard, and paced back and forth at the edge, tail twitching, ears laid back and growling at that terrified dog.

I was the only person that Tank let scratch his ears when he was eating, everyone else got a bloody souvenir if they tried.

I miss that big 'ol cat.

[a la izquierda]

42. My dog would've got him...

[eaglesfanintn]

56. Yup

My 85 pound pit bull/lab would have...well, would have jumped on him and probably licked his face. That would have shown him. The good thing is that if you see that dog running towards you, you're going to shit your pants before you know that she's a wuss.

[a la izquierda]

69. Yeah...it's not entirely clear what my dog would do...

but he's big, and he's loud, and he's very protective of his momma. And he'll give me enough warning to get my baseball bat.
I am learning how to shoot, though. We had a peeping Tom incident a few months back (a guy was peeking in my bedroom windows), and one of my "wonderful" neighbors is dating a Nazi (no joke).

[Comrade_McKenzie]

27. Then mow it, pig. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

62. So not mowing the grass...

give people the right to just walk into your house? Tell you what, if you ever see my lawn unmowed, I would recommend you don't just walk in- because they will carry you out.

[arcane1]

30. "But Vowell, who has been placed on administrative leave, will not face criminal charges"

[hifiguy]

33. He's lucky he didn't get seriously ventilated.

And wasn't the M.O. of that maniac in Kansas, the BTK Killer?

Creepy on every possible level.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

34. That D-Bag would've been looking down the barrel of a .45 if it were my bedroom...

He's lucky he didn't get shot.

[NNN0LHI]

40. Sounds like BTK

[onenote]

43. The brainiac didn't realize there was a camera so he lied to his supervisor

and denied having entered the house. At least that's what another story I saw about the incident indicated. His ass has been fired and I suspect there will be a financial settlement that should allow the homeowner to hire someone to mow her lawn for a few years.

[Enrique]

51. I hate Georgia Grass Nazis n/t

[PoliticAverse]

53. Code enforcement officer fired after entering woman's bedroom

http://www.ajc.com/news/code-enforcement-officer-fired-1475784.html

[Lochloosa]

74. GOOD!

[lpbk2713]

77. The good ole boy system is alive and well in Columbia County Georgia.

"Masters, who plans to sue, said she called 911 after the incident but the operator
did not alert the authorities after she found out Vowell was a compliance officer."


The E911 operator needs to go down too for aiding and abetting a breaking and entering.

[intheflow]

90. Agreed. It's not like this guy was a cop with search warrant.

Who the fuck did they think they were protecting?

[tblue37]

55. In Kansas, the BTK serial killer was a codes violation officer.

He liked to control and harass people and used his power to enforce codes as a way of doing so.

Of course, on the side he also liked to torture and murder people.

[DFW]

57. He tried a stunt like that in Georgia????

He could have ended up a corpse, legally shot by a woman standing her ground defending her home against an intruder who broke into her house.

[Politicalboi]

58. If there's no sound

He probably said she told him to come in.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

59. Maybe its the anarchist in me, but the term 'Compliance Officer' always makes me cringe.

Probably because I picture some wannabe cop or sexually frustrated bureaucrat that resembles and acts like this guy. What ever happened to respect being earned, not just awarded by virtue of a title, name tag or mall-cop uniform.

[Scootaloo]

60. What's with law enforcement being full of these no-neck skinheads? n/t

[tblue37]

61. I hope she sues the holy heck out of this jerk and the

official agency that hired him and didn't keep him in line!

[neeksgeek]

64. Something similar happened to me once

It wasn't an officer of the law, though, just my landlord's maintenance guys. I was supposed to move out of my small studio apartment on August 4th, right about the time I finished college. So, I paid July's rent and the small prorated amount for August all at once at the beginning of July, and gave my move-out notice.

Fast-forward to the morning of August 1st. About 4:30 AM (!) I got rudely awakened by these two guys unlocking my door and walking right in. Remember, it's a studio apartment. Lucky for them I don't own firearms, because I thought somebody was breaking in... They somehow didn't get the move out date right, and started yelling at me, "Why are you here? You were supposed to move out yesterday! We're calling the cops!"

So I showed them the lease and the move-out papers and they went away. It was lots of fun.

It's never a good idea to just go in to a place unannounced!

[yoyossarian]

66. Anyone here ever read the short story Lawnmower Man?

The Stephen King short story? It's NOTHING like the movie; it's a very, very odd piece for King, involving a strange and grotesquely obese man who comes to cut the lawn of this dude... he takes off all his clothes, then starts running behind the lawnmower at full speed, catching the lawn clippings in his mouth, which opens impossibly wide to manage this trick... as he's going, an unfortunate gopher or bunny or somethin' gets in his path, and he mows it down and catches all the gore in his mouth and face... the guy who hired him is horrified, but before he can do anything, the Lawnmower Man comes after HIM! He's supposed to be some version of Pan or Bacchus from Greco-Roman myth... a very odd story indeed.
This guy looks a lot like a match for how the Lawnmower Man is described.
And he seems to have a similar manner overall.

[Yavapai]

67. He wouldn't have liked to meet my 150lb. rottweiler at that point!

He sounds a bit like the BTK killer Dennis Rader who also was a super jerk compliance officer also.

[treestar]

71. Martinez, Georgia

I wonder how big the town is and if there is some history between the two people. How did he know she didn't have a gun (he's an idiot unless he was sure of that) and why does she have a surveillance camera inside the house? One wonders if there is more to this story! At least he got put on leave. She could sue him for trespass causing emotional distress maybe.

[GoCubsGo]

97. It's a "suburb" of Augusta.

It has over 35,000 people. I don't know about this guy, but there is a history, although, it's between this woman and the city. Actually, it's her neighbors that have the issues, and have been bugging the city to deal with her. That being said, this guy is full of it, and at least they fired him, despite no charges being filed against him. The news report I saw this morning had this guy claiming that when the door popped open when he was knocking on it, and he says the place stunk. He claims he was worried someone might need help, so he went in to look. Why he didn't call the police, if that was the case? This creep also worked for the adjacent county's sheriff's department, and quit after being caught having taken a computer from the property room. It didn't seem like he had a history with this woman, but he certainly has a history that ain't pretty.

I think this woman is going to sue. I would, if I was her.

[lpbk2713]

73. *Mow now or it's off to the gulag with you and your entire family!*

Shows how old I am.

I remember a time when government existed to serve the people,
now it's the other way around.

[nadine_mn]

75. I leave my door unlocked

when I am home, even when we leave the house.

We never have anyone come over - could be the 2 large dogs we have. I swear if this guy came into my house I would go all kinds of crazy on him

Our city has code enforcement officers that are freakishly anal about stuff like this and love sending nasty letters about where your garbage can is placed, how long your grass is, where you park your car on your property, etc etc

[Siwsan]

76. The BTK killer was a 'compliance officer'

He used to harass people, too.

My mother's grass got slightly out of control, after a massive rainy period, last year. Her city mailed her a letter. She was pretty insulted, but at least it was a letter, and not a large bald man bursting into her home!

[onethatcares]

81. I saw that just the other day

and it was mentioned he really enjoyed that job.

farking wannabes.

[uponit7771]

85. Where does he or Zimmerman get their sense in entitlement?!?!!

I don't understand the thought process of these type of people

[avebury]

88. I would have been calling 911 and demand that the police

come and remove the intruder because that is exactly what he was and I would have insisted on the spot that charges be filed.

[Gold Metal Flake]

92. ...

"Masters, who plans to sue, said she called 911 after the incident but the operator
did not alert the authorities after she found out Vowell was a compliance officer."

Imagine if your preferred course of action was stymied by those you expect to help you.

[avebury]

93. I would have just reported the guy as an intruder.

I have 3 dogs which would give me time to make the 911 call before they guy got to my bedroom and before I knew he was a compliance officer.

If the 911 operator refused to pass the call along to the police I would add that onto the lawsuit.

[Gold Metal Flake]

95. Well I guess you have all the bases covered.

Especially the part about how to immediately handle a non-responsive 911 operator by threatening future action.

Pity that this woman was not as smart or well prepared as you. Certainly, we could all learn a thing or two from you, Wise Internet Entity. Please teach us all how to live better through perfect hindsight and fantasies of time travel.

[avebury]

98. I would not assume that anybody that walked into my home was doing do

with good intentions. There are too many reports of people fraudulently identifying themselves as a gas inspector, electrical utility worker, etc. Where I live, if a code enforcement agent walked into someone's house things might not turn out so well for him/her. This is gun country.

I don't who the person works, once the guy entered her home uninvited trespassing is trespassing is trespassing which is illegal.

[Gold Metal Flake]

99. Hey, everyone is a hero in the internet.

It's all so simple.

[avebury]

100. I don't know why you are being so snooty.

I don't own a gun but I do own 3 dogs who will bark up a storm thereby giving me plenty of notice to grab the phone and dial 911. Anybody who owns dogs can tell how serious a situation is by their barks. I could have the call made before an intruder made it back to my bedroom (one of my dogs is meaner then shit to anybody coming onto her turf). I am fortunate enough to live not that far from one of the local precinct stations and that makes a big difference in feeling that I can get assistance in an emergency. It just isn't rocket science.

It is a fact of life that you probably couldn't swing a proverbial cat around any place in Oklahoma without hitting a gun owner. Anybody that decides to enter a house without prior approval from the owner in this state runs the risk of getting themselves blown up. They are very big on Stand Your Ground to the point that there have been efforts to pass an open carry law. There are some who believe that Stand Your Ground means any place any time with a shoot first ask questions later attitude. I don't think that what happened in Georgia would happen here unless a code enforcement inspector was downright stupid. Anybody with good intentions would be smart enough (i.e. knowing the gun culture here) not to just walk into a person's home.

[Gold Metal Flake]

102. You do not matter in this thread.

Get over yourself.

[quaker bill]

89. How do you spell "unemployed"... N/T

[mainer]

94. Without surveillance tapes, it would have been his word against hers

And no one would've believed that poor woman.