Is it legal to bust up your own stuff?

[JJenn]

Got home from work tonight around 8:30, as I was pulling up to my driveway I noticed glass all over the street.
I looked around and noticed my neighbors wife looking at and around her van. I looked up at the van and every single window was smashed out.
I asked if she was OK and if she knew who did this to her, she said she was OK and her husband did it. I then asked if she called the police, she said she did and they could do nothing about it because they are married. I then went into my house and grabbed a broom and my pistol and an extra mag for it (can't carry at work) and went to help clean up as I don't appreciate having to drive through broken glass.
Just wondering if this is legal as long as she wasn't hurt and why the police wouldn't even come out to make a report? She did say she hoped he did not come back and do anything to her.
I'm sure I don't know the whole story and it's none of my business, but I am a little PO'd about the glass everywhere.
Should I call in?
I did notice him carrying out what looked like a long arm wrapped in a rug the other day, kinda worried for the kids there.
Or should I just mind my own business and hope for the best?

 

[MrsGungho]

perfectly legal to bust up your own stuff.

 

[Kick]

I am not certain about Indiana law but, I know for a fact in Illinois, it is considered marital property. That means that he has every right to do whatever he wants to "his van". However, assuming that they were in an argument or "domestic dispute" the police should have come and at the very least taken a report. If she establishes a paper trail and he ever does strike or threaten her, he could then be arrested for domestic battery or domestic assault. With that arrest and then the paper trail, she would have no problem obtaining an order of protection. Depending on the cop and dispatcher that takes the call, if an order of protection is in place and it has been served, he could then be locked up for violating that order. Also, (this is where the discretion comes in), the damage to the property could be seen as an "act of violence" which would not only extend his jail time but, eventually extend the term of the order and be helpful to her in any possible divorce proceedings.

 

[Gabriel]

I am not certain about Indiana law but, I know for a fact in Illinois, it is considered marital property. That means that he has every right to do whatever he wants to "his van".

Indiana is the same way.

 

[sj kahr k40]

Could the fact that the glass was left in the right of way be illegal? After all it's possible that someone had a flat because of it

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Never understood a person breaking their own stuff, or anyone's stuff for that matter. The person busting his own stuff has to clean up his own mess AND replace it at some point. I had a b-i-l that used to throw lamps and telephones after he and his wife would fight and she had walked out to end the fight.

Just never made sense to me.

 

[vitamink]

Its perfectly legal, and the police wont get involved because it's a civil matter. He can bust all the windows out of the house if he so chooses. That's the problem with being married, your stuff is her/his stuff. Now say they get a divorce...it's still ok for him to smash the windows out if the car is still in his name or both names, if not, then it's criminal. As long as no one was hurt, there was no "wrong" doing. It sucks, but that's it.

 

[JJenn]

I've never seen anything quite like it, glass EVERYWHERE!
I just missed seeing the whole thing happen too. Nothing like seeing someone go berzek, and thinking "yea, I was married once too".
I just had to go to JimmyJohn's to get a sammich.
He must have been really mad. Prolly gonna hate himself tomorrow.
I remember the first time I met him, he tried to get me to come to his church. Wonder if he still goes.....
Oh well, thanks for the replies.
I hope nothing else bad happens, and nobody has a flat tire because of this...

 

[vitamink]

If he does anything to her directly, please be a good neighbor and get the police involved

 

[JJenn]

Absolutely!
I wouldn't want anything to happen to either of them, they are actually good neighbors.
Just going through a tough time I guess.
Hate it for the kids most of all, saw them looking out the window the whole time I was sweeping glass up.
Really sad...
Every time I hear a car go by I look out to see if it is him.
Looks like she has someone staying with her now...

 

[ATM]

Hope it calms down over there.




Now, could we please get more details on the sammich?

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Hard times are hard on marriages. Glad he hit windows and not people. They can be fixed.

 

[jd4320t]

It would be a big red flag to me and if I saw anything like it happening again I wouldn't hesitate to call the police.

 

[88E30M50]

I wonder if the Police would have shown up if she said he was acting violently, busting stuff and she feared for her safety? If someone is so ticked that they start smashing the windows out of a vehicle, they are acting in a threatening manner even if they have the right to break those windows.

I don't imagine it was a case of: 'Hey Honey, dinner ready yet? No? Ok, I'll pass some time by airing the mini-van out'.

 

[youngda9]

Littering at a minimum.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Could the fact that the glass was left in the right of way be illegal? After all it's possible that someone had a flat because of it

May be he violated a noise ordinance while they were yelling at each other? May be they could check his drivers license or he's late on a payment of some kind. The least the gestapo could do is send officer hightower out there to interrogate and investigate until he finds SOME kind of reason to arrest, prosecute and confine.

Seriously, no one on the board likes nit picking busy bodies noseing in THEIR business when it comes to carrrying an MPF in the city market but then they want to all the gestapo and report their neighbor for the AUTHORITY to come out and what? Over busting up his own stuff? Because there's a little glass in the street?

Take a gander at the highway some time as you drive, it's a constant stream of glass. Every street more than a year old has broken glass all over it.

I think MYOB fits here.

 

[serpicostraight]

If he does anything to her directly, please be a good neighbor and get the police involved

go ahead get the police involved. the gestapo always makes things better. if you really think shes in danger and thats your last chance then i guess make the call. but if they show up and you have an overdue library book its curtains for you dillinger.

 

[RichardR]

His property, his business IMHO.

When he starts unlawfully busting up your or someone else's property then it becomes a matter for the state.

 

[Expat]

Find out who the insurance is through. If he files a claim that someone else vandalized the vehicle he will have committed insurance fraud. If he says he did it, they won't pay for it.

 

[christman]

Could the fact that the glass was left in the right of way be illegal? After all it's possible that someone had a flat because of it

It would only become a problem once someone was injured from it.