WESTFIELD – A neighbor who took it upon herself to sell a neighbor’s lawn mower has reluctantly surrendered the fifty per cent commission she told police she felt she is entitled to.
The roots of the dispute stretch back to 2009 when a Woodmont Street resident bought a new riding lawnmower and pushed her previous mower on to the treebelt, Officer Harry Sienkiewicz found when he responded to the recent complaint.
Sienkiewicz was told that three years earlier a neighbor, having seen the inoperable mower on the treebelt, approached the resident’s husband to ask what his plans for the machine were. The man told Sienkiewicz that he explained to his neighbor’s husband that he is good at tinkering and might be able to fix the mower.
He told the officer that his neighbor’s husband then gave him the machine.
In the ensuing years, the man tinkered with the mower, expending funds to purchase parts, and eventually was able to repair it.
He then placed the machine on his treebelt with a sign offering it for sale at a price of $100.
The resident told Sienkiewicz that he went boating on Saturday and when he came home he found the lawn mower was gone and his marketing sign was on his trash barrel.
He said that when he asked his neighbor, who had discarded the mower three years earlier, if she had seen who took his mower she said, Sienkiewicz reports “I sold it for you. I want half.” and gave him $50.
The man told Sienkiewicz that he went home and, after he told his wife what had happened, called police.
Sienkiewicz spoke with the man’s neighbor who said that she thought she was entitled to half the money but agreed to give the man the $50 in question to avoid any more trouble.
The officer reports that, after the man accepted the money, he advised both parties that the issue is not a criminal offense but a civil matter. However, he said that both neighbors have agreed to drop the matter.
