A Reddit user shared a story about her neighbor spraying pesticide onto her food on the grill while she was cooking on it two times in a row.
Sprayed Pesticide on My Grill
According to the OP, they have never been on good terms with the neighbor. The OP went outside to put food on the grill and let it sit for about 7 minutes. She went back to the house. After 7 minutes, she came back to check on the food. There were flames from the grease burning at the bottom, and the OP bent down to shut off the gas.
She heard her neighbor slam the door and someone running down the stairs. She did not look at them because she did not want to appear aggressive since they were not on good terms. She decided to remove the steaks and leave corn on to keep warm. When she closed the grill, she met the neighbor who was spraying pesticides directly at the back of OP’s grill and 2 feet from OP’s face. OP was shocked, but she did not react. Instead, she went inside and checked through the window. The neighbor also went away.
The Confrontation
A few minutes later, the OP went back to remove the corn from the grill, and the neighbor came back and started spraying again. The OP confronted her and began filming. She told her that she wanted her to move the grill. The OP lost her temper and yelled back at the neighbor for a minute as she continued to spray on the grill pretending to be spraying her trees.
She told the neighbor she would call the police because she tried to poison them. The neighbor said ‘yes’ and laughed it off. The OP went inside to call the police. They threw away $80 worth of food, and the grill was no longer usable. The police said it was a misunderstanding between neighbors and they should talk it out. The OP feels they can take legal action against the neighbor who tried to poison the family.
The Masses Weigh In
Reddit community members offered advice on how best this situation could have been handled.
One urged the OP to invest in security cameras, “Might want to invest in some security cameras. It’s harder to deny when someone is trying to be sneaky or something, and LEO has something tangible to see other than what they may perceive as two neighbors being mean to each other.”
File a Restraining Order
Another noted that video evidence is important to establish any case, “With video evidence where your neighbor admits to malicious poisoning your family, you might be able to successfully file a restraining order against your neighbor. If nothing else, and if your police department won’t accept the malicious poisoning as an assault, you can always file a vandalism complaint. Finally, you can submit an EPA and/or state pesticide regulator complaint. Spraying your neighbor’s food with pesticide is a clear misuse of pesticide.”
“Exposing YOU to a toxic chemical may be considered assault. Spraying it near flames when you are standing there could cause an explosion. Aggravated assault. If not assault, it is, at the very least it is harassment. I would try to get a restraining order against her,” urged another user.
She Sprayed Poisonous Chemicals on Your Food
Another wondered what would have happened if she didn’t see the neighbor spraying the chemicals, “My concern would be if you hadn’t found out she was spraying poisonous chemicals on your food. That’s serious stuff, and you could have been made very ill. I probably would have called the cops for this very reason. They may not have arrested her, but it might have been nice to have explained to her what could have happened. But you didn’t call the cops. You may want to.”
You Need To Protect Yourself
“You should be building a large fence inside your property line so she has no say and putting up some cameras. I would also try to get a restraining order and say she threatened you, which she did. That way, if she is within so many feet of you, the cops can be called,” advised another.
How would you have reacted if you knew someone tried to poison you on purpose?
This article was produced and syndicated by A Dime Saved.
