Never Fight With Your Neighbors

Neighbor spills dead man's ashes in parking-spot dispute


FORT WALTON BEACH - A man angry his neighbor parked in his parking spot allegedly ripped open a bag carrying the neighbor's fathers ashes and scattered them on the ground Sunday.

The woman told Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies she hadn't been at home in five days and returned to a "belligerent drunk neighbor" at her home on Eglin Parkway.

According to an offense report, the woman heard her car horn going off and her daughter went out to see what was going on. The daughter found the man in the front seat of the vehicle.

When the woman came down to the parking lot, she told deputies the man began to yell and curse at her and she tried to remove a wooden chest containing her father's ashes out of the vehicle. She told deputies the man knocked the box out of her hands. A bag inside the box fell out and some of the ashes inside were spread on the ground.

The woman said she told the man those were her father's ashes and he continued to curse, saying, "(Expletive) off." He then picked up the bag containing the remainder of her father's ashes and tried to dump them in the bushes and on the ground, according to the report.

The woman said she began to scream and tried to pull the ashes away, but he wouldn't let them go. He eventually released the ashes when the bag ripped open.

The man told deputies he didn't want to make a written statement. According to the report, he said he was angry the woman had parked in his spot. He denied knocking the box out of her hand and scattering the ashes. He said the woman must have done it, according to the report.

The man then wanted to know if he could pick up the wooden box, its contents and the ashes and throw them away since they were on his private sidewalk, the report said.

The man admitted to drinking about four beers before the altercation.

The deputy noted he found the wooden chest open with a Navy flag on top, partially on the ground. There was also a broken rosary, an empty cloth bag and a torn plastic bag.

The deputy wrote in his report he'll follow up with the victim regarding criminal charges.