Home owner yelling at hiker on Hawes Trail Loop Mesa AZ

[CannondaleKid]

Just Google "Home owner yelling at hiker on Hawes Trail Loop Mesa AZ" and the first link should get you to the YouTube video.

This isn't just a single incident... this guy has been doing this since at least mid-2016. It appears he has called the police numerous times, so by now they probably just try to calm him down.

The scary part is, with Arizona being a 'stand your ground' state, this could easily end in tragedy. In this case,he's luck the hiker didn't have a gun, as he was by far more threatening than she was... especially since they were NOT on his land.

On a mountain bike forum they warn bikers specifically about this specific guy harassing trespassers even though he has to jump over his fence to approach them.
Lastly, while admittedly it is UNKNOWN who does it, mountain bikers also warn of razor wire placed alongside the trail every so often in that specific area.

[Hansenaz]

@CannondaleKid
Saw it on the local news this morning. I agree it's a dangerous situation....looks like a mental health issue to me.

[chumley]

@CannondaleKid
There's more to the story than the video, including an old trail location and a newly re-routed trail.

This news story covers some of it: https://www.abc15.com/news/region-south ... loop-trail

Full statements from both the homeowner and the City of Mesa in this story:
http://www.azfamily.com/story/38886809/ ... goes-viral

Here's a related tidbit on land sales history in the area:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/ ... 7b8b7.html

Edit: as with all news stories, there are probably more details and information that isn’t being reported in exchange for what attracts viewers and gets clicks. Something that has been going on for years can rarely be fully explained in 60 seconds.

[CannondaleKid]

@chumley
Disclaimer... I didn't see this on any news channel so I can't speak to that.

But no matter, I'm sure we all know there is always FAR more to any TV news story than can be explained in the time alloted. Besides, they don't want to spill too much anyway, thus the 'stay tuned for more on our news at 10, see you then' which is even more bull.

Thanks chumley for providing links so others can get a wider view this story... I did not because of the 'no external links' issue.
(The various MTB forums have more than a little to say about this guy, and none of it is positive)

In the end, no matter what issues (over years) led up to this event, the guy has gone over the top... anger management is appropriate here.
(must be pure hell to live with... I feel sorry for his wife.)

[sidhayes]

Go somewhere else.

[Jim]

This man clearly has some form of mental illness. I encountered something similar last summer at a garden downtown. My interaction with the person I encountered suggested that they were what is known as a borderline personality disorder, of which there can be specific sub-types. They are not fun people to deal with, when you do.

At any rate, assuming this man is not known to the public, it is easy to find out based on the location, and the tax assessor. Given this, if you are in the area, and if you are subjected to him, I suggest doing as other victims have done, which is to record the interaction and call the police. He is behaving aggressively and as a public nuisance or something like that, and there can be legal consequences for that type of behavior. The city and public domain should allow for use of the land which the trail is on. His harassment of people using public land is unlawful, and the Mesa or County Prosecutor have an obligation to put a stop to it.

If this was USFS land, there would be an obligation by the FS LEO Officers to stop him from preventing access to public federal lands, and as such, he could and should face federal charges.



Added after I saw Todd's post, it appears the city is putting up a fence to help the situation. Still, from reading, it appears he built his home near the trail, and this reminds me of so many other situations like Camelback, or Finger Rock, or Elden, where people move near a trail, and don't want people doing what has happened for year. To me, he seems over the top and aggressive. He appears to have chose to buy the land and build his house, knowing the trail was there. He could have put up a barrier at his own expense, well before this type of event happened.

[gummo]

W.E.I.R.D.
Western
Educated
Industrialized
Rich
Democratic

[chumley]

Apparently it wasn't just hikers. The cops didn't care for his antics either!

Mesa Police ... confirmed he was cited in connection with one count of disorderly conduct and one count of false reporting to law enforcement stemming from that incident.

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/me ... n-10716979

[Grimey]

I have noticed this kind of thing happening at South Mountain. Some homeowners near Kyrene de las Lomas Elementary School are building big fenced lots into the open land next to their properties - one is a pickleball court for god's sake. I assume the land is technically theirs, I don't really know. Seems kind of strange but I'm sure they have their reasons. By Warpaint someone has posted a big ugly "private property - use the trail" sign in the wash about 20 feet into the preserve behind their mansion - I guess people walking in the wash was really causing them some kind of horrible mental anguish. Again, maybe the land is theirs, I don't know, I assume it is. And also by Warpaint there was a confrontation in the news with a guy several months back, a guy building a new mansion with a nice view of the preserve, trying to eliminate all the street parking, which people have been doing there for years before he decided to build his monstrosity...

So whatever, this kind of thing has been going on forever I suppose, and other places have it worse from what I have read. Just my opinion - the world is full of d bags. Some are just more obvious than others.

[cactuscat]

Apparently it wasn't just hikers. The cops didn't care for his antics either!
Mesa Police ... confirmed he was cited in connection with one count of disorderly conduct and one count of false reporting to law enforcement stemming from that incident.

Good! I was hoping that would be the case after watching the video where he is telling dispatch "hurry, it's an emergency" and "we feel very threatened" ... which clearly wasn't the case. Waste of police resources.

[sidhayes]

Is there some special attraction to hike this stretch of trail?

[hikeaz]

I'm thinking about a Hokey-Pokey line-dance next to the lot-line.....

[CannondaleKid]

Is there some special attraction to hike this stretch of trail?

I wouldn't necessarily characterize it as anything special... it's just a trail in the Hawes Trail System.

Hiking: Since it is adjacent to the Las Sendas gated community I believe it is used mostly by folks who live in Las Sendas.
Mountain Biking: From personal experience hiking and biking it a number of times, I'd estimate 95% of my encounters were mountain bikers to 5% hikers.

[RedRoxx44]

Gosh,I wished I lived near there or had an interest in hiking there. I could have some fun!

[CannondaleKid]

@RedRoxx44
On one of the biking forums I saw a thread about this and a biker who obviously had just seen the thread for the first time said "Cool! I'm going out for a ride right now and I'll troll for the guy... and I will every time I ride that trail"

[Hansenaz]

My take is a little different from most here. If you perceive this guy as a bad guy who needs to be put in his place, sure, do it. But if you perceive this guy as someone with a disorder that he's handling poorly then trolling him could end badly for everyone.

[Sredfield]

@Hansenaz
You make a good point. The behavior described is way out of the normal range and does sound like some sort of mental disorder.

[Alston_Neal]

But if you perceive this guy as someone with a disorder

Pretty much how I dealt with you and The Eagle, especially since you both wanted my truck keys for some odd reason.

[gummo]

This is the reason why aliens don't come and visit us.

[Alston_Neal]

This is the reason why aliens don't come and visit us.

They don't visit you cuz you're always holding one of their family members.