Tonight was fun. *cough*
I've never had to make a statement to the cops and I will have to this weekend.
My neighbour LOST IT today. LOST. IT.
In order not to forget what I heard tonight, I typed it up.
September 13th, 2012
Tonight, our neighbour, Phil, wilfully damaged his rental property.
At about 1745, I heard loud voices, cussing and heavy footfalls in the flat next door to us. It was clearly Phil’s voice and he kept yelling “Fuck!” and other curse words repeatedly.
I was prepping dinner and was in our kitchen, which faces the property next door. Our window was open. I could hear the yelling but could not see into their flat.
Shortly before 1800, I heard a very loud crash and the sound of breaking glass. More yelling and cursing followed this. There were more loud crashes, followed by the distinct sound of breaking glass and crockery, which went on until about 1830.
At one point, Phil came outside and made a phone call. I heard him say that he had had enough of this shit, that he was going to turn himself in, find someone to care for his dog and just be done with it. He told the person on the other end of the phone that he had already trashed his flat.
He went back upstairs. I could hear footfalls and raised voices, but nothing crashing.
At about 1840, I heard the voices of children outside and realised the Phil’s friend Sue was at the property. I was concerned about the kids and was going to go next door and see if they wanted to come to mine while Phil threw his tantrum. However, given how angry he sounded, I was reluctant to go over. I stood downstairs with my husband for a bit.
Phil was at the back flat, talking to his neighbour. I heard him yelling, saying he was ‘fucking sick of this shit’ and he was leaving. He said he would be back tomorrow to burn the place down.
I noticed Sue in the car. After talking to his neighbour, Phil loaded his dog into Sue’s car, got into the passenger side and they drove off. As they exited the property, I heard Tia, one of the other flatmates, yell at Phil. She wanted to know why he tossed their belongings onto the footpath. As far as I could see, Sue did not stop the car to talk to Tia or Polly and they drove off. I did not witness Phil putting their things on to the footpath.
After this, I went next door to see if they were ok. I wasn’t sure if they had been home throughout Phil’s tantrum. All of their belongings had been chucked on the footpath and many items were broken. There was broken glass all around their belongings. Polly said that the entire inside of the house, save Damien’s room, was trashed and there was broken crockery all throughout the kitchen. At this time, Tia rang the police to report what had happened.
My husband and I offered them some boxes to help get their items off the street and grass. I went into the house with Tia and took some photos of the damage for recording purposes. Their room was totally empty, save a broken dresser and shattered glass. There was a hole in the wall as you walked into the property. In the hallway, there was a broken jar of sauce and some other foodstuffs strewn about. The kitchen was a disaster, with almost every plate and cup smashed, cutlery and food spilled all about the floor.
Phil’s room was destroyed. He had smashed his flat screen TV and his stereo. There was debris all over the floor.
While in the house, I was speaking to another neighbour who said that Phil had recently been told by a friend of his that he could be going away to jail again. Phil had apparently borrowed her car, which eventually lead to a bit of a chase by the police. When Phil was told of this, he knew he would go back to jail and he became very irate. I am not sure if this is what he meant when he said earlier that he would ‘turn himself in’. Earlier in the week, he’d been telling me a story about how he lead the police on a bit of a chase through Brisbane and down the ICB but it sounded all rather fantastic.
We packed up Tia and Polly’s belongings, moved them under our house and waited for the police to arrive to talk to them.
As of 2300 September 13th, Phil has not returned to the property. Tia and Polly are at the house now for the night.
After all of this, we invited Polly and Tia and their mate Alan back to ours for tea/beer/food/shelter. They refused to stay here overnight. They have my number and I will be home tomorrow from 11 to help out if needed.
JFC PHIL! I have his mobile number and am sorely tempted to SMS him and give him a piece of my mind.
Sad thing is, he won't remember shit in the morning.
