The last incident makes me feel threatened... time to find a "safe" weapon...

[humor me]

Okay, I will try and get as straight to the point as possible, but there is some explaining to do.

As you know I have a Service Dog (no longer "in training" she just graduated, she's just not doing mobility yet, please feel free to applause, she's been doing awesome). I had gotten into some verbal tiffs with one of the neighbors in my apartment complex several times over the months until last November when she pushed me and then tried to spray me with pepper spray, but she was either too drunk, or hadn't read the directions on how to release the safety cap. Either way, I managed to avoid being sprayed, called the police, but when they came, she gave them a false name (or false ID, I'm not sure on that), and it wasn't until this week that I finally got her correct name in order to have my Injunction Against Harassment amended. I found out I can also include my dog as her dog has nearly bitten my dog on several occasions.

The last time I had contact with her, she was out on the patio talking on her phone (very loudly, I should note), and as I walked by (I refuse to change the route my dog has been taking for her potty route since she came to live with me, she has her "spots" now), she made a comment about the "crazy b****", and although I probably should have just kept going (yeah I know, I know...), I turned around and looked, and she went ballistic. She started calling me even more names telling me I had no right to be on that side of the complex, I needed to keep moving (at that point, probably), and several expletives that I'm sure you don't want me putting on the board. Then she came out of her apartment, and I whipped out my cell phone and called 911...again, because I had no idea if I was going to face another round of what happened last time in full daylight.

Fortunately, she went straight into the office and started her rant in there. The bad news is that I have an out-of-state cell phone, so I accidentally got transferred to Phoenix PD instead of Glendale PD, so by the time she was done screaming, and I was done explaining, we figured out I needed to call back to Glendale PD. Thank heavens for the office being open or I may have been assaulted again. She really has an anger management problem.

The problem I'm having is that she won't answer the door when officers come to try and server her with her Injunction Against Harassment. Even once I get the name changed to the correct name (what a pain it has been to even GET her name let me tell you!), its going to be the same thing all over from the start. In the mean time, I'm at the mercy of her mouth and her pepper spray (if she ever figures out how to use it), and I still worry that her dog will bite mine. Since I live month to month and literally penny to penny, if her dog should bite mine, I wouldn't have the money to wait around for small claims court for her to pay me back. I would need to feel more protected than just the 6' leash law since she has already violated it several times and doesn't seem to think the laws apply to her on several levels.

I was wondering if you could recommend a "safer" alternative to a gun for me to carry that is legal in AZ. I am mobility impaired, and I really don't think that my aluminum cane is going to make much of a weapon after the first couple of hits because it would probably bend/break. Same goes for most wooden canes (and they don't have the correct handles), I'm really not strong enough for hand-to-hand combat for more than a minute (if that), and I have heard that pepper spray can end up causing more trouble than its worth because it can end up blowing back on the person spraying it (or not working at all if you don't read the directions or are too drunk to open the safety cap ). I'd like to think I'm smarter than that, but I'd really rather hear what your suggestions are for self protection on a reeeealy tight budget. Are asps legal? I tried to Google it, but I'm not very good at looking up things like that. I'd like to find something small as I don't always have large pockets on me. Concealment would be a key too as I really don't want my neighbors knowing I'm walking around with protective weapons. My dog is no help. She is trained to simply avoid people she doesn't know unless I allow her to visit. Service Dogs are not protection dogs.

[Curt581]

I used to hate getting sent on stupid neighbor dispute calls like yours. It's always over some petty, inconsequential BS, but it always escalates far out of proportion because neither party will back down. Since neither party is willing back down to end the problem, you have the get the police and courts involved. Harassment Injunctions, No Contact orders, etc etc, blah blah. Eventually, there will be a criminal trial as well.

Whether you believe it or not, YOU are contributing to the problem... as evidenced by your statement, "I refuse to change my route", and your willingness to involve weapons.

Honey, takes two to tango. You arent the victim anymore. You're an active participant. If I were the cop sent to your troubles, you'd BOTH be cooling your heels in a jail cell.

Just carry a gun. Eventually, one of you is going to shoot and kill the other. Why screw around?

[ET109]

If you are mobility impaired an 'asp' or other impact weapon might not do much for you, especially without training. Do you know where you're supposed to hit people with such a weapon? If not you can find yourself in a heap of trouble after you crack someone's skull. Tasers are not a good idea either, since it doesn't sound like you'll be able to run away while its working (don't know the legality of either in AZ).

Pepper spray is not a bad idea because it isn't likely to cause permanent damage and can be used against the dog with good effect. A gun also works. Perhaps the two in conjunction so you have somewhere to go if the spray doesn't work. Its true that the spray can get everywhere and you + dog might get some, but it's not the end of the world. Just make sure the other person gets more.

I have no comment on the rest except to say that, yeah, those are the kind of calls you dread getting...

[TEXASCOP]

Best bet, ignore her and be the bigger person.

[mcsap]

Just because you have the right to be at a specific place ( walking your dog down the sidewalk by her apt) doesn't mean that it is SMART to do so. You have demonstrated that she is a drunk crazy woman and that you are incapable of defending yourself. So why do you PUSH your luck ?

Rather than resort to having to worry about defending yourself , go a different route where you won't have to deal with her and the problem is solved. If she finally figures out how to use her pepper spray and does so and or assaults you..have you won because now she gets arrested ? Are you willing to risk your own physical well being ( and that of your dog) because you are RIGHT ?

I was a police officer for 25 years. At 5'6" and 165 lbs , I on occasion had to deal with people LARGER than me. There were times that I had the LEGAL AUTHORITY to take someone into custody but depending on their level of intoxication etc , I waited for backup.

I had the complete lawful authority to charge in their and to do what I had to do. It just wasn't always the smartest thing to do.

[humor me]

The other problem I run into is that her apartment is right by the basketball court where I exercise my dog. Its the only fenced place on the property. I do it in the middle of the night (usually between 2:00-3:00am), but sometimes she is still up. My mailbox is also within sight of her apartment, and she has still harassed me. I can't changed my mailbox, and I refuse to risk my dog EVER by letting her run loose even with an electronic collar, no matter how well she is trained. My complex is on a 5-lane road, and my dog getting hit is one of my greatest fears. Dogs are not robots. From now on, I have no plans on interacting with her, but I still want to be protected. I imagine that if the papers ever do get served, it won't stop the harassment. She just has that kind of personality. A middle school bully that never grew up.

I wanted to add, that I have never spoken first in our encounters. Just tried to make my way. I am not an outgoing, confrontational person in general, but after spending most of my youth getting the crap beat out of me because my brother was "different", I am a little protective about my personal space. All I ask is to be left alone, and for some reason she has targeted me. Even when I was working with my dog in the basketball court and her dog came running up and down the fence line loose, I just stood there until she got her dog under control, then contacted animal control the next day. I didn't want an encounter with her. I was out talking with someone by the BB court one time and she butted in and started screaming at me and called me all sorts of things. I remained calm while she stuck her finger in my face, backed me against the fence, and was literally in my face. It was 10 minutes of calm talking before I could get away unscathed, I honestly think that if it had been at night when there weren't people standing around to see what all of the shouting was about that I probably would have been injured that night. How do you deal with that kind of insanity?

[CPL1897]

Be a good neighbor and bring her a nice bottle of Vodka etc. with an added toxic substance-problem solved.....

THAT WAS TO MAKE YOU AND US ALL LAUGH, DO NOT DO ANYTHING OF THIS NATURE PLEASE......

Then again I dont live in AZ and I could easily ise the defense "If someone told you to jump off a cliff would you?" So do what you want....

ON A SERIOUS NOTE....Life is to short to spend your waking hours obsessesing over some "crazy" neighbor..If thats the worst thing in your life trust
me....I see and deal with MUCH worse every day....But I actually enjoy it for the most part..

My advise...Mind your business, be glad to be alive and have a faithful companion to walk etc.....Or wait until shes in a drunken state, pepper sparys herself then beat her with your aluminum cane for approximately one minute, call 911 have her arrested and video the incident putting it on youtube so we can all have a good laugh!!!!

[retdetsgt]

Other than moving, you don't have a lot of options. There's no laws against being a jerk or the jails really would be overcrowded.

As said before, it just about always takes two people to create a mess like this. It's rare that one person will target another for no reason at all. You seem to believe that you're totally right and she's totally wrong and that might be the case, but probably not.

After your post about you will always say something if someone parks in a disabled space, I wonder if you perhaps were a little confrontational on your first encounter? I don't know and I'm not accusing, but you might think about that.

And if we come across as being callous about it, it's because we constantly get calls on this stuff where people want us to solve their problems with relatives, neighbors, etc. If a specific law is broken, yeah we can make an arrest, but that rarely solves the situation. Sometimes it makes it worse because the arrestee comes back and retaliates even more, but stays just outside the criminal justice statutes.

I have a neighbor who apparently hates me and it's over his dog. He and his family got an Irish Setter puppy a couple of years ago and have done nothing to train it. That's fine except they used to constantly let the dog out in the front yard with no leash and if I was working in my garage, it would run in and jump all over me. The whole time he's calling the dog in some fantasy that it will obey him. Finally, after about the 10th time in one summer, I made a remark, "Nothing like a well trained dog, huh?" Apparently that really pissed him off because ever since when I see him, he glares at me and I always smile and say hello to him. I could easily escalate this, but why? I prefer he lose sleep over it, not me.

[humor me]

I never said I was totally right, but my action of turning and looking when she called me a b**** and then not just walking when she told me to was definitely passive-aggressive. Lesson learned. I'm still not changing my route though. My dog and I need the consistency in training.

I think I will go with the pepper spray. I wear glasses and she doesn't so I'm hoping that I will be afforded a little more protection. I'm also very good at reading comprehension, so I should be able to read the directions on how to use it safely, or at least as safely as possible.

There is a "gossip network" around here that I do my best to try and stay out of, so I suspect that is where some of the pre-conceived notions came from. My last Service Dog that had to be retired still lives here as an Emotional Support Animal and I had to tell the person that now owns her that she wasn't allowed to take her into stores and restaurants like she was doing. It wasn't legal. That didn't go over well, and she started a huge round of rumors. If I had my way, I'd live out in the middle of nowhere in a little trailer with nothing but wildlife and stars to keep me company. I really have no interest in dealing with other people's drama. I have enough of my own.