<p>OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) – A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching…
(snip)
Van Iveren, 39, of Oconomowoc, was charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage and disorderly conduct, all while using a dangerous weapon, and is scheduled to appear in court March 5. Together, the misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 months in jail.</p>
<p>Not one opinion about this?? What would you have wanted your neighbor to do if they thought someone was being assaulted? SHould this guy be prosecuted for criminal trespassing/disorderly conduct? (I suspect charges will be dropped, but still…) I’d prefer this to the Kitty Genovese/ Kew Gardens apathy/non-response of many yrs ago (heres a link for those of you not old enough to remember)<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese</a></p>
<p>jym626 --I get the impression that the sword brandisher may not be mentally healthy. That would be terrifying to have someone kick my door down and brandish a sword because they heard something weird. No phone? Doesn’t know anyone with a phone? Strange story . . .</p>
<p>mstee-
I didn’t hear that he was not the MH poster child. I did hear that he made the guy open closet doors and prove there was no one in there. I suspect a phonecall would be a consideration, but if somene was attacking someone else, if they answered, would they answer and pretend everything is ok? I agree-- strange… but I have to thimk a concerned neighbor isnt a bad thing. We have a neighborhood watch in our neighborhood. I kinda think a nosey neighbor is’t a bad thing…</p>
<p>While I think that the man’s intentions were good, I also wonder about his mental health. Seems that most people would call the police before breaking down a neighbor’s door while brandishing a sword.</p>
<p>I don’t think the man deserves a prison sentence, however.</p>
<p>I do think that films designed to turn people on by showing women’s being raped and otherwise assaulted should be illegal.</p>
<p>jym – I don’t know. That was just the impression that I got from the story. It’s a possibility, based on what I can gather from reading the story. And I agree about nosey neighbors. They are a good thing. But a phone call to the police would be the best way to go. </p>
<p>Living with mom, doesn’t have a phone, didn’t try to use a neighbor’s phone, brandishes a sword, impulsive actions, property destruction – lots of red flags there. </p>
<p>But then again, I didn’t hear the woman’s screams, or whatever this man heard. It is rather a touching thing to think, in a way, weird as his manner of doing so appears, that this man was trying to save someone from what he perceived to be a horrific crime.</p>
<p>Right. Pornography should also be illegal. Further, why on earth are newspapers allowed to print whatever they want? Studies show that covering violence in the news increases it domestically; if the newspapers were banned from covering domestic violence stories, life would be better for all of us.</p>
<p>It’s hard to determine if he acted rationally or not without having been there.</p>
<p>If some idiot neighbor was playing this recording with apparent female distressful screaming loudly enough for the neighbor to hear then he probably deserves what he gets. I hope if my neighbor hears loud distressful screaming in my house he’ll come to my aid in addition to calling the cops. In the 5 to 30 minutes it takes for the cops to arrive a lot of damage could potentially be done. </p>
<p>As it is, in the situation of the article, the end result is a broken lock and a neighbor who’ll hopefully think twice about what his neighbors might be able to overhear.</p>
<p>BTW, apparently he lived with his mother and didn’t have a phone. Can’t call the cops without a phone. I’m with USD<em>UCLA</em>DAD. If you hear screams coming from my abode-- break the door down, and ask questions later (Just take your time with that sword…). Maybe this poor soul with no phone who lives with his mother will have his 15’ of fame in a good way. He could have been a hero… How was he supposed to know it was some perv with a hearing problem?</p>
<p>I hate to merge this discussion with the one Digmedia started on high school talent, but my story involves Jesus Christ, Superstar.</p>
<p>H and I were living in London in a bedsit that had no phone. Next door neighbor started playing the famous song very loudly, over and over again. It was late at night, we were trying to sleep and the song really got on my nerves. I got fed up, started banging on the wall with my shoe. To no avail. I was beginning to make dents into the wall. So I put my coat on top of my nightgown, went next door, rang the bell and asked the guy to turn the volume down. He became very belligerent and challenged me to call the police. I said I would (I did not disclose that the bedsit did not have a phone). About 20 minutes later, a very confused-looking bobby came knocking at our door and told us the neighbor had called the police station to report that we wanted to lodge a complaint! The bobby concluded that the neighbor had had one drink too many. And indeed, the next day, said neighbor could be seen walking around and around the little square, probably trying to clear his head.
The phone is deadlier than the sword.</p>
<p>Okay I was mugged years ago, I was walking down the street, got grabbed and I started screaming</p>
<p>Down from their apartment came wo young men, with long kitchen knives, all they had, to help me…the thug ran off and those brave young men followed him where the police got him and they retrieved my purse</p>
<p>maybe not the smartest thing to do but their hearts were in the right place</p>
<p>another time, my sweet d, all of 2, dialed 911 and left the phone dangling, the cops show up at my door, I am a mess, my youngest as two days old and they had to search my entire house to make sure I was safe…so yeah, not such a strange request</p>
<p>maybe a bit grandiose behavior, but the apartment dweller playing porn so loud to disturb the neighbors is a jerk</p>