News

Actions

A man put up an electric fence near a school bus stop to keep kids off his lawn

Posted at 12:58 PM, Sep 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-05 16:25:54-04

A Virginia man took “you kids get off of my lawn” to new levels by putting up an electric fence near a spot where students wait for the school bus.

Bryan Tucker said he erected the fence Tuesday because he had trouble last year with kids trespassing and littering on his property.

“They don’t respect other peoples’ land,” Tucker told CNN affiliate WTVR. “I pick up trash every day.”

He said the “No Trespassing” signs he has posted on his property for years haven’t helped.

The fence was connected to a solar-powered battery and was a foot or so away from the street on Tucker’s corner lot in Henrico County, just outside Richmond.

Neighbors were shocked to find out about the fence as kids gathered at the bus stop for their first day of school.

James Mehfoud owns houses in the neighborhood and said he felt a “slight shock” when he touched the fence.

“I understand his concern. I just don’t think he understood the neighbors’ concern about their kids. One of them could touch it and get shocked,” he told WTVR.

Police were called and county workers were brought in to survey the property.

They found that the fence was actually on the county’s right of way, so Tucker took it down on Tuesday afternoon — only hours after he put it up.

“I went ahead and moved it today because it was not in the right place,” he told WTVR.

CNN has attempted to contact Tucker, but was not successful.

Henrico County Police said no charges were filed.

County officials told CNN that Tucker could put the fence back up along his property line, which is 18 feet back from the street.

Tucker said he hopes he doesn’t need to do that.

“The message has gotten out, I’m pretty sure, to everybody,” he said. “The point’s gotten across.”