Contender for "Worst Neighbor in the World."

[cmac2012]

Whoa, if you think you've had to deal with some unpleasant neighbors, check this one out.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/19/MNGK3GPM6J1.DTL&hw=bad+neighbor&sn=001&sc=1000

A few excerpts:

Don Bertone is not your usual problem neighbor, San Francisco authorities say.

For three years, Bertone, who once worked for the city Housing Authority and ran for the Board of Supervisors in 2000, has wreaked all sorts of havoc in an otherwise quiet community in the southeastern part of the city known as Little Hollywood, officials and his neighbors said Wednesday.

Bertone, 54, doesn't just play loud music, authorities say. At all hours of the day and night, he has blasted police radio broadcasts, shrill oscillating tones, Spanish dance tunes and other noise from speakers he installed on the outside of his home at 336 Lathrop Ave. Police said they could hear the racket from 100 yards away.

Bertone isn't just a nosy neighbor, they add.

Police said he hooked up floodlights and six cameras that swept the block. Inside his home, he could monitor his neighbors' movements on four video screens.

Bertone is not merely unpleasant, authorities say.

Officers who searched his home Tuesday allegedly found a high-powered assault rifle complete with a flash suppressor, two handguns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition as well as an undisclosed "explosive device.''

Prosecutors charged Bertone with 11 felony weapons counts, two felony drug counts and two felony counts of receiving stolen property -- for two city traffic signs found in his home.

Neighbors -- who say now they are getting their first good night's sleep in three years -- have told police they are scared of Bertone. Sometimes they see spent ammunition on his front porch.

Bertone's two-story home is protected by barbed wire. Milk crates and pallets line the roof on one side. The windows are boarded up, and the wood is painted black.

Bertone has at least four satellite dishes and a dozen antennas on the roof with wires leading to trees. His side fence is topped with hubcaps, and his backyard is covered by blue tarps.

[420 SE]

And you're looking where for terrorists???

[cmac2012]

What kills me is that there are some tough cops in San Fran, believe it or not, and they let this guy keep his neighbors up at night for three years?

I'm lucky I hadn't bought and remodeled a house on that street before he started that crap. I could be up for murder right now.

[G-Benz]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

I'm lucky I hadn't bought and remodeled a house on that street before he started that crap. I could be up for murder right now.

From what the article stated about his arsenal of weapons, I think he would put up a good fight!

[Larry Delor]

Seeing as how this guy was doing this for 3 years, I am surprised that the neighbors didn't pool their money and hire a sniper to take him out.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by G-Benz

From what the article stated about his arsenal of weapons, I think he would put up a good fight!

That thought crossed my mind. I get a little crazy about being kept awake at night behind bull$h!t. Once, in Seattle, there was a carpet business about a block away from my place and they had an outside bell, like a school bell, that was part of some crude alarm system. The damn thing started malfunctioning at the start of some 4 day weekend, I forget which one, and would ring for 5 minutes, followed by a minute or two of silence, and then ring for 5 more minutes. I must have called the cops a dozen times -- no relief. Ear plugs didn't do the trick, I was not getting any sleep to speak of. After around 2 days of this, it dawned on me at about 3 am, that I had a 20 foot or so long cable with a hook at each end, and, a '53 chev pickup.

I took the cable and a ladder in my pickup to the scene of the crime. The ladder was only a 6' step ladder but I was able, after several tries to loop the cable up over the bell and cynch it tight with the hook. I looped the other end around the Chev's massive bumper and jerked that damn thing off the wall mid ring. God, it made a nice sound when it hit the ground.

Just as I was loading the ladder back in the pickup, a Gray Top cab drove by. I had owned a Gray Top a few years previously and I recognized the driver, an older woman who owned the cab. She didn't recognize me, but saw what looked like a buglary and called the cops. I went back to my place and a few minutes later the cops arrived. She came back around and I came back and this time she recognized me. We had been good friends and I explained what happened. She said, "Oh hell, I gave 'em your license number." I explained to the cops about the malfunctioning alarm, leaving out my involvement in its demise. They had a good laugh and left. Apparently they had been getting lots of calls and were stymied -- the business owner had been unavailable for contact. That was the last I heard of it. No more burglar alarm that I was bothered by.

Oh man, I lucked out on that one.

[kerry]

We had a bizzare neighbor one block away for years. I never saw him but his ordinary Denver victorian house was surrounded by fences with razor wire on top. His whole front porch had barbed wire around it. Turned out he was a German Nazi who moved here after WWII. He put the fences up to keep Jews away.
He never played loud music or bothered the neighbors, but he must have had a very unusual mind. Gone now.

[Jorn]

Ever heard of the "shut up little man" tapes; talking about good neighbors

When one of them died Liquor sales droped by 25% at the local Liquor shop!

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by kerry edwards

We had a bizzare neighbor one block away for years. I never saw him but his ordinary Denver victorian house was surrounded by fences with razor wire on top. His whole front porch had barbed wire around it. Turned out he was a German Nazi who moved here after WWII. He put the fences up to keep Jews away.
He never played loud music or bothered the neighbors, but he must have had a very unusual mind. Gone now.

His own private concentration camp...

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Whoa, if you think you've had to deal with some unpleasant neighbors, check this one out.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/19/MNGK3GPM6J1.DTL&hw=bad+neighbor&sn=001&sc=1000

A few excerpts:

Don Bertone is not your usual problem neighbor, San Francisco authorities say.

For three years, Bertone, who once worked for the city Housing Authority and ran for the Board of Supervisors in 2000, has wreaked all sorts of havoc in an otherwise quiet community in the southeastern part of the city known as Little Hollywood, officials and his neighbors said Wednesday.

Bertone, 54, doesn't just play loud music, authorities say. At all hours of the day and night, he has blasted police radio broadcasts, shrill oscillating tones, Spanish dance tunes and other noise from speakers he installed on the outside of his home at 336 Lathrop Ave. Police said they could hear the racket from 100 yards away.

Bertone isn't just a nosy neighbor, they add.

Police said he hooked up floodlights and six cameras that swept the block. Inside his home, he could monitor his neighbors' movements on four video screens.

Bertone is not merely unpleasant, authorities say.

Officers who searched his home Tuesday allegedly found a high-powered assault rifle complete with a flash suppressor, two handguns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition as well as an undisclosed "explosive device.''

Prosecutors charged Bertone with 11 felony weapons counts, two felony drug counts and two felony counts of receiving stolen property -- for two city traffic signs found in his home.

Neighbors -- who say now they are getting their first good night's sleep in three years -- have told police they are scared of Bertone. Sometimes they see spent ammunition on his front porch.

Bertone's two-story home is protected by barbed wire. Milk crates and pallets line the roof on one side. The windows are boarded up, and the wood is painted black.

Bertone has at least four satellite dishes and a dozen antennas on the roof with wires leading to trees. His side fence is topped with hubcaps, and his backyard is covered by blue tarps.

Sounds like the fellow Boomhauer(sic) on "King of the Hill", seriously you know that guy had smething to hide. I would be looking for childpornography and/or drugs in his life.

[Hatterasguy]

Wow I guess their are some perfect customers for Medmechs hit man service!

Some people are just plain wierd.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Jorn

Ever heard of the "shut up little man" tapes; talking about good neighbors

When one of them died Liquor sales droped by 25% at the local Liquor shop!

Interesting stuff. Amazing how people get attached to their bitterness and *****iness.

I'm familiar with the lower Haight. Haight Ashbury itself is a bit nicer -- some gorgeous old Victorians -- I can understand why alienated young hippies were drawn to it: it likely as not had way more charm and character in architecture alone than the soul-less suburbs many of them came from. It's a bit rough now. Still some die-hard hippies livin' on the street.

The lower haight is not an appealing place in many ways. SF is not the Shangra La it's made out to be. Some really nice neighborhoods, some fairly nice ones, and a whole bunch of sqare miles of beat up run down squalor - crowed and expensive to boot.

[Palangi]

For you hams out there, the offender is KK6AN. Not unknown to the FCC Enforcement Bureau.

[cmac2012]

What, you mean the guy in SF whose nobility inspired this thread?

I guess it wouldn't be surprising -- with all the techo stuff this guy was playing with, I could see him doing some illegal stuff with the airwaves.

[Palangi]

I'm not sure if he himself did anything illegal on the airwaves. He apparently runs a repeater. He got some FCC warning letters when some kind of illegal activity occurred on his repeater (probably some unlicensed squirrel transmitting obscenities or music, big problem in California) and he, as control operator, failed to shut down the repeater when the offense(s) occurred. What actually got him in hot water was his failure to respond to the warning letters. I never did hear what the final outcome was.

http://www.arrl.org/news/enforcement_logs/2001/0215.html