RICHMOND, Va. – "You kids get off my lawn!"
It's become a cliché for describing an irritable homeowner, but one Virginia resident got so fed up with neighborhood kids trespassing on his property, he put up an electric fence.
The corner where the homeowner lives, which is the same corner as a bus stop for local school children looked more like a crime scene than a school bus stop Wednesday morning.
"It's insane," said one parent.
Parents called police after finding an electric fence just inches away from where their children wait for the bus.
"Someone said it was electric, I was like whoa," said another local parent.
The man who put up the fence says he had finally had it with students trespassing and leaving trash in his yard.
He figured the fence would keep them out.
"I'm not in charge of other people's children. I'm not directing people's children what to do. All I can do is protect myself and that's why I've got a fence up," said the homeowner, Bryan Tucker.
But jolted neighbors thought the fence was too extreme.
They called police and police called public works, who questioned whether the fence encroached on a county easement.
"Show me what's the truth," said Tucker. "You know, everybody's just giving me different words."
The relentless homeowner is not giving in because he says the signs posted in his front yard did nothing.
"It says no trespassing for any purpose. Strictly forbidden. Violators will be prosecuted," said Tucker.
"What, you don't like kids? Me, I'm a parent and I don't want any children around here getting electrocuted," said father Wayne Milby.
"That's a little too extreme. I mean, you're going to let the kids get electrocuted? that's not cool," said another parent.
County officials determined the fence was on an easement and asked Tucker to remove the fence.
He did, but he is allowed to put it back up if he keeps it entirely on his property.