SAN MARCOS, Calif. (KGTV) – A group of San Marcos neighbors say that a homeowner is terrorizing the community with threats and harassment, among other complaints.
Neighbors are now banding together to sue him with the hope that he'll pack up and leave.
Team 10 investigative reporter Jennifer Kastner discovered that federal agents also seized explosives and ammunition from his house, that he wasn't supposed to have. Homeowner Mark Brody, though, denies all allegations of wrongdoing.
"You don't have to get along with all your neighbors. You don't have to be friends with all your neighbors, but you also don't have to terrorize them," says neighbor Heidi Hafley.
Brody’s home sits behind a prominent security camera and high fences.
“[It’s] a fortress,” says James Pyer, one of twelve neighbors who are suing Brody, accusing him in the lawsuit of threats, stalking, trespassing, and so on.
"This has been a nightmare," adds Hafley. She and Pyer got a restraining order against Brody.
Court records show that Brody denies harming the neighborhood, but 10News dug into public records.
According to a search warrant from last year, state investigators believed that Brody may have been harboring several weapons, even though he'd been banned from having firearms or ammo because of the restraining order. Agents reportedly found and seized 30 pounds of an explosive called tannerite that had to be turned over to a bomb squad. Additionally, they found four ammunition magazines and two rounds of caliber ammunition.
“At one point they put everything in the middle of the street and told us to stand back,” says Hafley.
This past May, he pleaded guilty to illegally having ammunition. He was given probation and community service.
10News confirmed with the San Marcos Sheriff's Station that deputies have been called out to Brody's home more than 30 times since 2014.
One Sheriff's report reveals accusations from neighbors that Brody had been shining a flashlight from his truck into Hafley's bedroom. In another report, neighbors claim he yelled that she was a "[expletive]".
“I'm the main target now because I push back and I let him know [that] I'm not going to tolerate this,” she tells us.
In fact, Brody tried to get a restraining order against Hafley, but failed.
The City of San Marcos confirmed with 10News that there have been a number of code compliance violations issued to Brody.
A cease and desist order from the City to Brody includes a photo of an unauthorized traffic control sign that Brody allegedly installed. Neighbors say that he spray painted the street, put in a speed bump and put up notices meant to insult his neighbors.
Hafley adds that the signs would state, "'Watch for the cows crossing,’ which he's referencing myself and my neighbor. He would [write], ‘The old bat,” which is my nextdoor neighbor [and he would write], ‘The troll,’ which is me."
Brody would not do an interview with 10News. In a court response, he wrote that he categorically denies the allegations and claims to have never acted [violently] towards the neighbors.
"We don't go out of our houses anymore. Children don't play on the street," says Hafley.
She and the eleven others on the new lawsuit against him just want him to move out so they can move on. “I don't want any other neighborhood to go through this," she adds.
Each neighbor is asking for at least $10,000 in damages. The trial date is scheduled for July.
