Posted on 08/23/2006 11:49:41 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Boy Charged For Meowing At Neighbor Lady
Family Gave Cat Away After Neighbor's Complaints
POSTED: 2:26 pm EDT August 23, 2006
JEANNETTE, Pa. -- Meow. A Pennsylvania judge is being asked to decide whether that word is a harmless taunt or grounds for misdemeanor harassment.
Police have charged a 14-year-old boy with that crime. Michael Loughner is accused of meowing whenever he sees his 78-year-old neighbor, Alexandria Carasia.
The boy's family got rid of their cat after Carasia complained that it was using her flower garden as a litter box. Now, she said, the boy makes meowing sounds every time he sees her.
He said he's only meowed at her twice.
"I've had to put up with this for three years," Carasia said. "As I walk by, I see Michael and his mother. He got on the porch and hid behind the bamboo screen and starts meowing. If I don't make this stop now, they're going to keep doing this to me. I shouldn't have to worry about walking out of the house and being harassed by this young kid."
Loughner said that on July 23 he went out to hold his dog so it wouldn't leave the yard as Carasia walked by.
"She was walking through and she kept looking at us," he testified. "I grabbed the dog so it wouldn't leave the yard. When I put my head down, I meowed."
He said that was one of the two times he's ever meowed at the woman, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported.
"As she walked in front of the house, nothing was said," the boy's mother, Sally Loughner, told the court. "He stepped off the porch to make sure the dog didn't get out. As he reached down and got the dog, he said, 'Meow.' ... She said, 'Do you want me to call the cops again?' I said, 'Go ahead, he hasn't done anything wrong.'"
There is a history of disputes between the neighbor, saccording to the paper.
Sally Loughner told the court that she ended up sending her cat to live with family members so that she could "keep peace in the neighborhood."
Defense attorney David Martin Jr. asked that the case be dropped.
"This should never have been filed," Martin said. "This is not something that police should be wasting their time with or wasting the court's time."
The judge heard from both parties Tuesday. He decided to wait 90 days before ruling, saying he'll decide what to do after seeing how the boy and his neighbor get along in the meantime.
If she'd whacked him with a cane I bet he'd have stop.
Truthfully, his parents should have whipped his behind for this, it's disrespectful to an elder. They probably encouraged it.
"You kids get outta my yard!!"
Maybe this old bat should be charged with wasting police time on this.
If you are going to bring Monty Python into a topic, make sure you get the terminology correct. It is "Nih!"
Get it right or I shall taunt you a second time.
Why did the police arrest the kid?
This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard
The old lady is a wacko. The kid should have been cleaning out her flower beds if the cat was a roamer.
The judge should hiss "dismissed" and then call the boy over and tell him privately to leave the old lady alone.
Ha. He's using kitty speak to tell the old lady what shrew she is. That she calls the coppers on him makes his point. Does he post here? This kid has potential.
just common sense
Mac: All right, how about Cat Game?
Foster: Cat Game? What's the record?
Mac: Thorny did six, but I think you can do ten.
Foster: Ten? Starting right meow?
[They go up to the car.]
Driver: Sorry about the...
Foster: All right meow. Hand over your license and registration.
[The man gives him his license.]
Foster: Your registration? Hurry up meow.
Driver: [laughing] Sorry.
Foster: Is there something funny here boy?
Driver: Oh, no.
Foster: Then why you laughing, Mister... Larry Johnson?
[Foster stares at him.]
Foster: All right meow, where were we?
Driver: Excuse me, are you saying meow?
Foster: Am I saying meow?
Driver: I thought...
Foster: Don't think boy. Meow, do you know how fast you were going?
[The man laughs.]
Foster: Meow. What is so damn funny?
Driver: I could have sworn you said meow.
Foster: Do I look like a cat to you, boy? Am I jumpin' around all nimbly-bimbly from tree to tree? Am I drinking milk from a saucer? DO YOU SEE ME EATING MICE?
[The man is uncontrollably laughing.]
Foster: You stop laughing right meow!
Driver: [Stops and swallows hard.] Yes sir.
Foster: Meow, I'm gonna have to give you a ticket on this one. No buts meow. It's the law.
[Rips off the ticket and hands it to the man.]
Foster: Not so funny meow, is it?
[Foster gets up to leave, but Mac shakes his hands at him, indicating only nine meows.]
Foster: Meow!
(Bonus points, HGC, if you can name the driver Foster was messin' with!)
My old tom cat, Mr. Jinks, stands up on his hind legs, puts his front paws on either side of the door knob and literally turns the knob and pushes the door open.
He kept getting outside and I couldn't figure out how he was doing it until I caught him at it one day. He must have watched me do it enough times and was finally able to solve the "mystery of the door knob"!
I don't understand why we are supposed to "respect" our elders. What if they don't deserve it?
DEMOCRATS?... (Eddie Murphy laugh)...
It is not "Nih", it's "Nik!"
My favorite one to trot out was "Moooooom! He's not touching me! Make him stop!" when my brother would poke at me and get about half an inch from me.
Rereading that as an adult, I have NO idea what I wanted Mom to do.
There was a really mean old (to us, i guess she was in her mid 50's) lady who called the cops on the kids in the neighborhood.
Anyway, one time, some kids poured a bunch of waste oil all over her long, steep driveway. She told the cops she was 100% sure it was me and my little brother. Sure, it made sense, she really hated us, we had lots of waste oil from our racing operations, we lived next door and we hated her back.
The smart cop asked if there was ANY chance anyoen else could have done it and she said no, because she was 100% sure it was us.
Anyway, we had documented proof we were out of town (our pictures were in a racing magazine because we both won) during the period it occurred.
The lady couldn't go after anyone else either because she was 100% sure it was us. Ha, beeeotch!
I'm not saying what happened to her was right, but she sure didn't give us too much crap after that.
There ya go!
I like that idea!
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