I need some advice...

[UDJustin]

So I left for work this morning and got a text message from the fiancee telling me the guy next door knocked on the door asking her if she would like him to clean off her windshield for her. Now a little flash back I guess this guy has asked a few times to help her carry things up the steps and other things of that nature. So back to present, she told him ok. I guess bout ten mins later he came up and knocked again. He then said that he needed her info cause well she doesnt know him he doesnt know her but her windshield is cracked and he didnt do it and well she must have done it and then ran off. So this is now a 250 dollar windshield scraping adventure. My thing is do I tell him he needs to pay for it or do I just eat it, I mean he was trying to do something nice but broke something. So what would everyone else do in this situation?

[Blown76mav]

I'm not sure how I would handle this.  I do know last week when it was real cold here, I parked my truck at midnight without a broken window and the next morning it was cracked without any marks on it at all.  I have a auto start so I didn't scrape the window. And it was parked where nothing could have fallen on it.   I have heard that windows will sometimes crack due to weather.  Just my .02

[UDJustin]

there are three distinct spider cracks that you can see in the windshield from pressure, my fiance told me she could hear him hitting her windshield from inside upstairs.

[cyberwollf]

I turn on the defroster and let the windshield melt the bottom of the ice.  Then i beat it until it cracks and it slides off.  Maybe i should rethink that.  What year is the car? I have broken several ice scrapers from hitting it so hard. I clearly don't have the proper technique (this is my first full winter up here, and have lived and Louisiana my whole life)

I have had a rock peck turn into a running crack one cold night.

[UDJustin]

2007 honda crv

[cyberwollf]

So is this guy creepy? Sounds that way from the story. 

Apparently Hot water is bad.http://www.glassdoctor.com/news/docs/PR_GDR_Ice%20Removal_Corp_12_01_)08.pdf

I feel your pain.  Before Christmas someone broke into my wife's car.  The little tiny triangle quarter panel window was $180 to replace. Is the crack annoying or undrivable. In LA we had yearly inspections, if the crack was on the driver's half of the windshield or larger than the size of a credit card, you had to have it replaced.  Does OH have any laws like that?

[slandis3]

IM not sure waht the actual law is but a friend of mine got a ticket for a cracked windsheild.

[JSLeedy]

A lot of insurances will fix your windshield with no deductable.  I would say something to the neighbor and see what he says.  Worst case you call your insurance company and say "a salt truck threw some peices of what looked like road up and cracked the windshield".  If you are forced to go that route I would make sure te neighbor knew I was doing it and also knew how pissed I was at him for forcing me to go through my insurance.  I used to have a Trail Blazer and the windsheild was broken three different times from road debris.  They didn't raise my rates for it.    It is illegal to drive with a cracked windshield.  If a cop wants he can pull you over and ticket you for it.  They say it enterfears with you sight.

[MechanicalEngineer]

I had a cracked windshield here in Ohio, (and so did Will).  I looked up the laws, and if it's over a certain size, it's illegal.  But, if it's under a certain size, it's ok.  In SC & FL, I think it was illegal of any size.

Yeah, no hot water, & don't leave your windshield arms up.  Many cars, if the windshield arms are up...and they get blown over or knocked over, they WILL break the glass.

[bigfalcon36]

have the guy give you half...and then tell him to keep his distance.

[MSUJenn]

One of our cars that has been parked in the garage now has a cracked windshield from it being so cold. I guess it used to have a little chip in it from a rock, but now it's a crack with 3 distinct lines. I didn't think that would happen in a garage.

Neighbors are a pain in the butt to deal with sometimes. I hope you figure out what to do about that guy. He should atleast offer you something. One of our neighbor's guests hit my car last year and drove off. The guys installing my garage door stopped him and came and got me. He was drunk or something, had no car insurance, no telephone number, and didn't want me to call the cops. All the while, my neighbors stood on their porch staring, not offering to help or apologize for their drunk guest hitting my car.

[UDJustin]

Thanks for the advice The cracks are like spider webs three of them each the size of a basketball the winshield needs replaced. Her insurance has a 250 dollar deductable on the windshield. I dont know if the guy is creepy or not to tell you the truth I have never met him, my fiance thinks he is a little bit I guess.

[MechanicalEngineer]

Honestly, I think calling the police would be the smartest.  Let them figure out what happened.  They're used to seeing that sort of thing (I'm sure a few members could chime in on that.)

What makes me suspect the guy is that he worked on the windshield a bit...hitting it...and THEN realized it was broken.  After he got the snow off, I would think he would've seen the crack marks through the ice.  Plus, if the cracks radiate out from a central point, that indicates an impact.  That's now how weather fluctuations crack glass. 

[jungliztkruger]

i wish you lots of luck with this. im pretty sure that because she said it was ok to help that legally he cant be held responsible for any damages. if he had done it without asking he would be fully liable. i wouldnt let him know this and try to get half the deductible or something, especially if he was beating on the window. when you do get it replaced i would definately call safelite... they have a lifetime guarantee so if it ever cracks again or leaks or anything they will fix it for no charge at all. i dealt with them replacing the van windshield at work and they were great.

[UDJustin]

the only thing I'm really worried about is we just bought this condo less than a year ago and I dont see us moving within the next few years, so I dont want to have a guy next door being pissed off or acting crazy for the next few years because of this.

[jungliztkruger]

then i wouldnt even worry about asking him for anything... ever again.    im about 99% certain that he can't be found responsible for it so i would think you'll have to eat the cost of replacement and then again the cost of a tall fence (maybe an electrified fence )

[Blown76mav]

Think about this,  if your fiancee could here him pounding on the car with something then obviously he wanted her to come out.  Why is he always conveniently asking her if she needs help and knocking on her door when your not home.  He could be trying to get a set pattern of when your gone.  She needs to not talk to him anymore and she needs to not answer the door when your gone for a while this way he can't have the satisfaction of conversing with her when your not there.  You need to make it a point to get to know this guy and find out somethings about him.  Don't invite him over for dinner but make sure you talk to him when you see him out.  Make vocal notes of any tattoos he has visible.  This way you are the one talking to him and she isn't this may keep him from trying to help her while you are gone. If he has motives then he may change them if he notices that you have an interest in him and what he's up to.  I wouldn't be mean but I wouldn't put up with it either.  He may be fine and he may not but what you don't want is to find out that he had motives by coming home and finding her dead or raped on the floor.  I'm blown 76's wife. I'm just saying use your head it sounds like it's more then just a broken window.  She should never give him any information you should take care of anything that comes like that.  Especially if he asks weird.

[JSLeedy]

I would have to say I agree 100% with Blown76Mav's wife.  If he only comes around when your gone you need to nip that in the bud right away before it can escalate.  If is is harmless then you have nothing to worry about by letting him know you are protective of your finance and don't want him coming around when you aren't home.  Of course if he is a nut job something is most likely going to happen any way.  Better it be on your terms instead of his.  As far as the window goes.  Even if she gave him permission to scrape the window he can still be responsible for the damage.  If he was negligent in his actions (such as pounding on the window with his fist or something harder to break the ice) he is responsible.  If you give someone permission to mow your yard and he mows over all your flower beds and out door lighting as well as some in ground sprinkler heads that happened to be up.  The mower is responsible because he is being negligent in his action.  You can safely say that no reasonable person would do that when mowing a yard.  As well as no reasonable person would bang the crap out of your windshield and crack it in 3 places just to get the ice off.  Confront him about the window and your future wife.  You don't have to be buddies with your neighbors just civil.  If he gets away with this and is some kind of stalker/nut/some guy that wants to get in your wifes pants.  It will only embolden him to go farther.

[UD Flyer]

Do not lie to the insurance company, that is Insurance fraud and can be a felony!!!

Also, try to approach him as if you know more than you do. Tell him about the marks and stretch the truth a little. Tell him your fiancée saw him beating the window. Then ask about paying or helping pay for the repair. Don’t be a prick about it, but be confident when you tell him she saw him do it. Like someone said earlier, since he asked and she said yes, I don’t think he can be held liable. So this approach won’t hurt to try.

Also, I think Blown76mav’s wife make a very valid point. I suggest your fiancée get her Concealed Carry permit and carry a M&P 9c where he can see it, just to give him a warning that you guys are to not to be messed with.

[JSLeedy]

She doesn't have to get a concealed carry permit to do that.  In Ohio you are legally allowed to open carry.  I do this quite often.  Some of you may have seen me at Dodd's with my 9mm on my hip.  I wear it at Wal Mart and any place that doesn't have that awful no concealed carry sign.  The only other way you get into trouble with this is in your car.  There are very specific rules to transporting fire arms and ammo if you don't have your CCW. 

[UD Flyer]

No, she doesn’t need a Conceal permit. But with one, she can go anywhere including her car and open carry, as long as there is not a sign or alcohol, she's fine. To open carry in a car you need a permit and license, with the CCW permit you can conceal or open carry. It’s in the Ohio Revised Code 9.68.

Having a CCW Permit can save a lot of hassle down the road vs. just open carry.

Justin, let us know what you finally decide to do with this.

[JSLeedy]

I was only suggesting that she could open carry while she was getting her CCW.  I guess I really didn't make it very clear in my last post.  It will take at least a month to get with the class and waiting for them to issue the license once you apply.  I talked my wife into getting hers at the same time as me.  The other thing to consider is don't carry a gun unless you are reasonably sure  you would use it if you needed to.  You don't want to give a criminal a gun to use against you or other people.  Getting shot with your own gun would really suck.

[Blown76mav]

Why don't you just take a picture of him on your cell phone and have the police match it to any known sex offender in your area.  all of this is free information they maybe able to give you the website.  Let them know what is happening and get some advise from them.  If he freaks her out or scares her do not get her a gun she'll freeze up and he will take it from her or she'll be so scared she'll be trigger happy and shoot the wrong person.  She should get self defense classes.  Don't tell him anything that is not true especially if you are telling him that she said it if he does have motives that will trigger an immediate reaction from him. And that you don't want. What I am saying is talk to him enough to let him know you have an interest in him but not enough to make him go off the deep end.  So far she's been ok she just needs to not talk to him and he may leave her alone all together if he sees this and knows you are interested in who he is.

[UDJustin]

Well I think you guys are dead on she left a note on his door with her phone number on it he called and left her a voice mail he read the note back to her and then just repeated I would do it over and over and over again(I think he was speaking of being nice) I'm gonna have her save the voice mail so I can hear it and maybe turn this into the police

[JSLeedy]

Here is a link so you can search for sex offenders.  http://www.sexoffender.com/state.html  It's kind of creapy to see how many there are.  Of course you can be charged with a crime that makes you register by doing things like urinating in public even if you think nobody can see you.  I high 18 year old doing anything sexual with his 16 or 17 year old girl friend.  There are alot of other stupid stories that caused people to register.  One couple was seen through their bedroom window by a 10-12 year old.  She ran home and told here mom.  After jail time and having to register for the rest of their lives.  You could say their life was ruined.  I really don't put a lot of stock in the list.  It does give you the option of looking into what they did as well as knowing your neighbors.  No I'm not on the list.