La Floresta - Trespassing with Verbal Theats
   
Date:

January 2010 3:30 pm

Type:

Trespassing with Verbal Theats (also see a readers comments below)
Location floresta lower  paseo las olas  (between las canoas & camino reale)
Source:

Friend
Entry: they were on property, my "outside garden".
Homeowner Present: Yes
Deterrents: Bars on Windows
Locked Doors
Lights on in house. car in drive way. property did not look vacant
Future Deterrents: continue to telephone floresta private security system if person refuses to vacate, or looks suspicious.
Description: my friend/neighbor looked out her window, saw people @her gate. thinking it was a friend, she went out to the patio & front yard. there she saw an entire family w/tables, chairs set up, & cooking equipment. they were eating & cooking in her outside driveway & garden. (the garden is quite large w/trees. the tables were all set up for a picnic). the family had a van & one motor bike parked in front of the house. her car was inside the gate in the yard. the gate is made of bars. trespassers can see car, lights on & that people were home. she told the man it was private property & to leave. he yelled (in english), w/his fists in the air "no i wont go this is my country". he used obscene language, dared her to call police as he was "friends w/the police, & they will all come back later to get her." tried to scare her that she was "in mexico...." @ that point she went back inside & telephoned floresta security. it took over 1/2 hour to subdue the man. he was confrontational w/the police. his wife packed up the cooking equipment, the children helped putting the tables/chairs back in the van. he still would not leave. finally he got into the car w/his family & yelled in english "i will come back"
Armed: No
Harm: Verbal Threats
Police Called: private floresta police. 2-3 minutes.
Ministerio Report: No
Comments:

This comment is from the person that submitted the report: Suggestion: if you live in an ungated private community or  in town, do not let this happen. call police immediately. even if it is not your property, do it for your neighbors. this is not a good trend. this man was especially hostile/confrontational.

We also received comments from a La Floresta resident - dated January 18, 2011, that recommend otherwise:

The practice of picnicking on someone's front-of-the-wall lawn is country wide. This is a country where, other than in big cities, there are no parks with picnic space. La Floresta homes, especially in lower La Floresta, have beautiful green strips of lawn in front of the walls. Families have picnicked on these spaces as long as the grass has been there. They clean up after themselves and do not interfere with anything. We tend to always offer them Coke, or at least cold water. They have always been cordial and polite. We have them fairly often and no one ever calls the police. Our Mexican neighbors welcome them always also.

Please don't suggest that people begin calling the police when they see picnickers on front lawns. Why create anger when you can help bridge the cultures? That Mexican family might one day, come to your aide if you are in trouble. It is the least we can give back to the people of the country we live in. We aren't just about excessive consumption,  high walls and fancy cars.

One last point. We always keep cold Coca Cola and plastic cups in our house. We don't ever drink it ourselves, however, we always offer it. When workers come to the house, it's the first order of business. And yes, we offer it to our picnickers and to the street workers patching potholes, the refuse collectors, etc.


Date Added: January 18, 2012 Updated