After reading this I think the next time I get involved in helping a neighbor break into his own property after execution of an eviction order I'm going armed.
Some old coot come out after me will meet hot lead.
Of course you can. And yes, it is their job. Their job is public saftey. If your neighbor explained what he was about to do and didn’t want any trouble, I’m sure they would have come out, at least until you were in the house. Especially since you said the neighborhood had bike patrol around. And with that fact, why didn’t he call the local dept and advise him so the bike patrol didn’t think you guys were breaking and entering, illegally?
I imagine the "old coot" knew darned good and well who lived in that house, and who owned it, if they were not the same person. The guys he dispatched were neither, and he knew it.
Actually it is one of the cops’ jobs, actually usually the sheriff’s, to be there if requested when a landlord retakes possession of property from a deadbeat tenant. One of their oldest duties in fact under common law. Why? To prevent breaches of the peace.