Need some dealing with neighbors advice, please

The next-door couple is separating--she threw him out today (according to another neighbor). I don;t know if he had been drinking when the incident with our fence happened about 2 hours ago (I was indoors, but DH witnesses it). Anyway, DH saw him fiddling with his very large, 10+ ft ladder, which had been resting against their chimney breast. DH thought perhaps he needed help with cleaning his gutters, though he didn;t say anything (the neighbor may not have even known DH was there). DH saw him violently grab the his ladder, and fling it a few feet over, onto our fence, breaking a screen door (DH had just removed it to replace it, but wanted to keep it), and may have broken a window we stashed there (the ones we replaced over the weekend--even though they were to be trashed, we still don;t want broken glass all over. We stash stuff over there until bulk trash day.) The neighbor just walked away, knowing he had done this. Luckily, our fence is not broken, but this does anger us anyway. What concerns me is that he could come back, and start trashing either/or both properties (and houses are only about 6 ft apart, less than than at the fence lines [they also have a stockade fence adjacent to ours on the side]).

My question is, how should we handle this? He did no real property damage, but he is somewhat violent (and apparently has a drinking problem, we;ve been told). When the wife returns home (she was out when this happened), DH wants to let her know about this (we left the ladder in place, and I took pics). She must be going through heck right now, and it seems a bit trivial to burden her with this, but, on the other hand, maybe she should be aware, in case he comes back to damage her/our property. Any advice? Thanks!

If there's stuff being violently thrown at/over your fence you call the cops.

I sure wouldn't burden her with that. He's already mad at her. Having her confront him about that would just be throwing fuel on the fire. I agree, call the police if he's done real damage. Otherwise, just leave it be and hope he leaves peacefully.

I would call the police to make a report to be on the safe side. If you are concerned for your safety I would have this incident on record. Don't know if you want to mention about your neighbor's marital problems though..

Originally Posted by pee-cleaner

I sure wouldn't burden her with that. He's already mad at her. Having her confront him about that would just be throwing fuel on the fire. I agree, call the police if he's done real damage. Otherwise, just leave it be and hope he leaves peacefully.

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He;s already left (he left right after the incident). We heard from neighbors that she threw him out today (I guess before this incident.)

I would still report it.

I wouldnt bother the police, but I would tell her. What if she threw him out before this and he was trying to do something to either get into the house or something harmful to her. I would let her know, just so she will know.

I would let her know she may have or want to get a restraining order and if she does and you see him again uyou can just call the cops

You can always call the police and speak to an officier. Ask if it is worth filing a complaint, what would happen if you did (would they talk to him or just file it as malicious mischief. The bottomline, can you use this incident to show a pattern of behavior in case he does something in the future?

And be aware that your neighbor may take him back. And where does that put you if you have filed a complaint?

We just found out that he had (unlawfully??) in her house today. I don;t know who;s name the house is in, but she seems to have some reason to have barred him from the house (he may have been trying to use the ladder to break in--and I did notice a wide-open upstairs window--something I;ve never seen there before--especially since she;s not home, either.) (And there was some talk from the neighbors about a restraining order in the works.)

We ran into her family, who came to check on the house, after hearing about him being there, and told them about the ladder.