FENTON, Mo. – Having an eyesore of a home on your block is bad enough, but what if your neighbor's unsightly property posed a danger to your own home or even your life?
That's what one man in a Fenton neighborhood is afraid of.
"I look from my backyard, I see a number of vehicles, pallets, skids," said Steve Pulliam, a concerned neighbor who has been living on Pine Haven Road, in Fenton for 30 years.
Pulliam said his neighbor's yard wasn't necessarily his business, until back in February when one of the nine vehicles in their yard rolled down their driveway and crashed into a neighbors house.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's office confirmed they responded to that incident.
"I'm concerned one of the vehicles is going to roll down the hill and wipe my whole bedroom and back of the house out," said Pulliam, who lives down a hill from the property.
"Yeah, that was a while back. It's just our cars," said Melissa Smith, the homeowner. "We have a lot of cars and they're older. [The neighbors] have nothing better to do than call and complain."
While speaking with Smith, an unidentified man began to threaten Pulliam and our photographer.
Despite the threats, we took Pulliam's concerns to the county and found the property actually has been cited three times since January; once for the derelict vehicles, again for building a structure without a permit, and finally for operating what appears to be a car repair business out of the home.
But the homeowners missed all their court dates.
"The court has a warrant out for the arrest of that individual," said Eric Larson, Director of County Services & Code Enforcement for Jefferson County.
The I-Team found two warrants, in fact. That's because the homeowners missed two court dates this year for those violations.
It's welcome news to Pulliam because, without quick action, he thinks things will get worse.
"It's gonna result in somebody getting hurt or injured seriously and I don't want it to come to that," said Pulliam.
"Mind your own business, we mind ours and that's it," said Smith.
The homeowners are scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday for that building code violation.
Larson with the county code enforcement division said they're considering ruling this property a public nuisance, which would mean a lien could be put on it. That process would take at least 90 days.
