A landlord who apparently was upset at tenants because they were behind on their rent, crashed his Hummer into their home -- his property -- and attempted to kick the door down Thursday, police said.
Richard Ott, 30, of Newark is facing charges of attempted burglary, harassment, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, failure to report an accident and endangering the welfare of the three occupants of the home, including a 6-year-old.
The tenants, a 50-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife, awoke about 2:30 a.m. to a loud crash at their home on Lute Court in the Harmony Woods development, near Ogletown, New Castle County police said.
They looked outside to see "headlights shining into the bedroom" and quickly went to check on their son sleeping in a separate bedroom. They then heard what sounded like a person attempting to kick in the front door, police said.
As the woman called 911, Ott allegedly shouted, "Tell the police it's the landlord that tore up the building."
He then drove away, according to police, leaving footprints on the front door.
No one was injured and the home was not structurally damaged, said Cpl. Trinidad Navarro, a police spokesman.
Officers later went to Ott's home on Old Baltimore Pike and found his Hummer, damaged, with a pine branch lodged in the bumper.
Ott was arrested without incident and later was released on $14,000 unsecured bail.
"Its just bizarre," Navarro said.
Calls to Ott were not returned.
The couple living at the damaged home appeared to be in the process of moving Friday and were loading boxes into their car.
They didn't want to give their names or talk about the incident.
"This has already been traumatic enough and we don't want any more problems," the woman said.
When asked about the problems, she pointed to her door. It was pushed back several inches and had a large boot imprint on it. The door frame was hanging loose from the house. There were tire tracks on the lawn and a small pine bush in the front yard was missing branches.
Navarro said the tenants had never met Ott, but had dealt with Ott's brother, who was a neighbor on Lute Court and acted as a property manager.
If Ott had not identified himself to the tenants, Navarro said, "We may not have solved the crime. They were strangers to him."
Adam Ambruster, who lives two houses from the damaged home, said he was surprised to hear the police reports.
"I just talked to [Ott] a couple times, but I thought he was a real friendly guy," said Ambruster, 34. "I was kind of shocked."
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material the use of which may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Tenants Together is making this article available on our website in an effort to advance the understanding of tenant rights issues in California. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.