Teh One Who Knocks
06-19-2012, 07:15 PM
Written by Beau Zimmer - USA Today
http://i.imgur.com/Fe4al.png
TEMPLE TERRACE Fla.- Charlie Adams is a 60-year-old retired government employee who is a self-proclaimed southern boy with a love for animals.
"I would prefer to just be left alone, and just let me do my thing," said Adams when we knocked on his door Monday evening.
But ask many of Charlie Adams' next-door neighbors and you'll hear a much different story, with complaints on all sides about the man they describe as more than a menace.
"He puts nails on the road, he shouts at people, he came at my son with a crowbar. That's horrific," said one of Adams' neighbors, Marquita Hutchins.
The Hutchins family lives directly next door. They're among the families that have restraining orders against Adams. "I feel in danger, yes, because of the past what he's done," said Hutchins.
The family says Adams gets a special pleasure out of targeting their autistic son, Lucas. "He harasses him, he shouts at him, he sticks his finger up at him... he calls him a retard," said Mrs. Hutchins.
But Adams said he never speaks with his neighbors and had no idea the son was autistic. "If he had defects of that severity, I felt they had an obligation to come inform me," said Adams, who called his neighbors nosey.
Adams said the allegations by a select few families are all made up. "People lie!"
But to prove their claims, many neighbors have installed cameras, one capturing what they said is Adams dumping bleach on their cars, doing $1,600 damage. 10 News also found a long list of arrests dating back to the '90s for things like aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, threatening to discharge a bomb, misuse of 911, criminal mischief, and numerous repeat violations of domestic violence injunctions.
"We don't know from day to day... you don't know when this man is going to snap," said another neighborhood resident who met with 10 News Monday night.
Adams had a different explanation. "It's just a lack of understanding and respect in this country. I'm not an etiquette specialist, but a lack of proper upbringing."
http://i.imgur.com/Fe4al.png
TEMPLE TERRACE Fla.- Charlie Adams is a 60-year-old retired government employee who is a self-proclaimed southern boy with a love for animals.
"I would prefer to just be left alone, and just let me do my thing," said Adams when we knocked on his door Monday evening.
But ask many of Charlie Adams' next-door neighbors and you'll hear a much different story, with complaints on all sides about the man they describe as more than a menace.
"He puts nails on the road, he shouts at people, he came at my son with a crowbar. That's horrific," said one of Adams' neighbors, Marquita Hutchins.
The Hutchins family lives directly next door. They're among the families that have restraining orders against Adams. "I feel in danger, yes, because of the past what he's done," said Hutchins.
The family says Adams gets a special pleasure out of targeting their autistic son, Lucas. "He harasses him, he shouts at him, he sticks his finger up at him... he calls him a retard," said Mrs. Hutchins.
But Adams said he never speaks with his neighbors and had no idea the son was autistic. "If he had defects of that severity, I felt they had an obligation to come inform me," said Adams, who called his neighbors nosey.
Adams said the allegations by a select few families are all made up. "People lie!"
But to prove their claims, many neighbors have installed cameras, one capturing what they said is Adams dumping bleach on their cars, doing $1,600 damage. 10 News also found a long list of arrests dating back to the '90s for things like aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, threatening to discharge a bomb, misuse of 911, criminal mischief, and numerous repeat violations of domestic violence injunctions.
"We don't know from day to day... you don't know when this man is going to snap," said another neighborhood resident who met with 10 News Monday night.
Adams had a different explanation. "It's just a lack of understanding and respect in this country. I'm not an etiquette specialist, but a lack of proper upbringing."