woman who had fined a homeowner $300 for leaving a recycling bin visible from the street for more than 12 hours was now committing theft and trespassing before sunrise in a pink hoodie she probably thought made her invisible. I saved the footage.
I didn't confront her. Not yet. Instead, I checked her HOA Facebook page, Ridgewood Estates Community Forum, 312 members, and there it was, a post from Diane, timestamped 9:15 a.m. Friday. "Good morning, neighbors. Just a reminder that the back road to 118 is open and available as always.
Some hostile signage appeared this week, but it's been addressed. That road has been there longer than any of us, and our community has every right to use it. Don't let one grumpy farmer ruin your commute. Drive safe." #Ridgewood #CommunityFirst #Rise. 312 people saw that post.
Forty-seven liked it. Twenty-two commented, mostly with thumbs up emojis and messages like thank you Diane and so glad someone is standing up for us. One comment stood out. A man named Greg Foresight wrote, "That road is on private property. Using it without permission is trespassing."
Diane responded, "Greg, the road predates the subdivision. It's been used by the public for decades. Community access is established. Let's stay positive." Every word of that was a lie.
The road did not predate the subdivision. It predated the subdivision by 60 years because my grandfather built it in 1961. It had never been used by the public. Community access was not established. And the hashtag we rise at the end of a post celebrating sign theft and organized trespassing told you everything you needed to know about how Diane Prescott defined community leadership as something that happens to other people's property.
Sarah read the post over my shoulder and said "She spelled criminal activity wrong. She wrote it as community access." I printed the post, the comments, and the trail camera screenshots. I added them to a folder I'd started keeping in my desk drawer. The folder was getting thick.
That weekend, the traffic got worse. Saturday morning, a day when there's no commute, no school run, no reason to shortcut through a farm. I counted 14 vehicles. Families with kids in car seats driving through my soybean fields for fun, like it was a scenic route. One minivan stopped near the hay barn so the kids could look at the cattle.
The cattle spooked and broke through the east fence. It took me three hours and my neighbor Roy Haskins's border collie to get them back. The fence repair took another four hours and cost me $200 in wire and posts. I called the Colton County Sheriff's Office that evening. Deputy Mike Langford drove out, took my statement, looked at the tire tracks, and told me what I already knew.
"Nate, this is a civil matter. You've got signs posted. You've got trespassing. But unless someone causes injury or significant property damage, the most I can do is issue a warning." "They're driving through my crops."