Neighbors Call Cops - Again - On Boys Who Accidentally Mowed Their Lawn

Earlier this summer, police were called on a 12-year-old black boy while he and his cousins mowed the lawn of a neighbor. After receiving an outpouring of support from his community, the boys once again had police called on them when the same locals complained about the group playing on a neighbor's front lawn.

Police were called by Randy and Linda Krakora while Reggie Fields and his family were playing on the lawn of neighbor Lucille Holt-Colden on July 4. The Krakoras complained that the kids had slammed into their fence repeatedly while playing on a Slip 'N Slide at the Maple Hills, Ohio home. Police made no arrests nor issued any citations, but an incident report noted that the fence was damaged, according to Mic.

Maple Heights Police Lt. Joe Mocsiran clarified that the issue wasn't criminal.

“The report says [the Slip ‘N Slide] caused a board to pop off the fence,” Mocsiran told the news site. “If it’s a result of playing and there’s no criminal intent, then it becomes a civil matter.”

The Krakora family, who Mic reports have called the police around 60 times in the nearly two decades years they’ve lived at their current address, explained why they decided to alert law enforcement of the situation.

“We have always been told by the police that if we feel threatened, ‘Don’t confront these people, just call us,’” Linda Krakora said to Mic. “We’re a slightly older couple. We have a white couple in their eighties next to us. If we feel it’s going to be more of an issue to go over trying to talk to somebody, for our safety, we just call the police.”

Holt-Colden streamed the fallout of the interaction with police on Facebook Live.

“Somebody, anybody, better do something about this,” says Holt-Colden said in the broadcast. “Police [are] being called because the kids are playing in water. Maple Heights Police, you ain’t got nothing else better to do, do you? Mayor, what you going to do? Maple Heights chief of police, what you going to do?"

Mocsiran said that despite public outcry resulting from the repeated calls to police, there is no action that can be taken against the Krakoras.

“There’s only a law for abuse of 911 and that’s if there’s no law actually broken,” Mocsiran said to Mic. “If there’s no laws being broken [by the Krakoras], there’s nothing we can do.”

Fields first had police called on him on June 23 after accidentally cutting a part of the Krakora's lawn while tending to Holt-Colden's yard, according to to News 5, a Cleveland-based ABC affiliate. As video of the confrontation went viral, the community stepped up to support Reggie: a GoFundMe page was created to help the young businessman expand his enterprise.

The Krakoras have thus far refused to participate in mediation with Fields or Holt-Colden, noting that the feud between the families is long-standing. Linda Krakora asserts that one of the Holt-Colden children has previously threatened her family. The Krakoras are also not apologizing for the calls to police.

“I’m sorry that the young man got scared, though I don’t really think they got as scared as he says because [Reggie’s cousins] were mouthing off to my husband when the police asked them to clear our driveway,” Linda Krakora told Mic. “[Holt-Colden] is making this about race when race has nothing to do with it.”

Linda also added that she has faced threats after the video of the June 23 incident went viral.

“I’ve had three for sure threatening phone calls and lots of hang ups,” Linda Krakora said. “On Saturday, some guy from Illinois kept calling. A woman from Switzerland keeps posting on my Facebook. ... We have people walking past our house, taking pictures, calling us racists and stuff like that. If [Holt-Colden] wanted this to stop, she could make it stop. She’s trying to milk this to get her 15 minutes of fame.”

[Photo: Facebook]