Spike strips, also known as stingers or stop sticks, are usually used by police to slow down or stop moving cars by puncturing their tires. In Minnesota, however, one 39-year-old man decided the concept would also be useful in keeping kids from riding their bikes across his lawn.
Police disagreed.
A criminal complaint filed in Chisago County last week states that police arrested the man from Wyoming, Minnesota, for using a homemade “spike strip” on his lawn to stop children from biking across his property “out of spite.”
Someone called the officers to the man’s home next to Goodview Park in Wyoming after reporting that they had found sharp spikes hidden in the grass. When they arrived at the home, police found a plastic sheet about three feet long, fastened to the ground with metal. The man had allegedly drilled about 40 screws, each about 3 inches long and spaced about an inch apart, into the plastic so their tips protruded straight up.
The man reportedly had a history of yelling at kids to keep off his lawn
According to the person who filed the report, the man had been screaming at kids to keep out of his yard. CBS News reports that there were bike tracks beneath and around the homemade “spike strip,” and it appeared that bikers frequently used the yard as a shortcut from Goodview Avenue to the park.
The homeowner allegedly told police he put the plastic contraption there to keep children off his property. The report stated that he told police that he had yelled at the children “hundreds of times” and that they “bike through his yard out of spite.”
The man went on to say that he merely wanted to frighten them away, not hurt them. According to the police, he appeared irritated that the “spike strip” did not prevent children from riding through his yard.
He was charged with using a spring gun, pitfall, deadfall, snare, or any similar dangerous trap designed to injure or kill humans or wildlife. If the court finds him guilty, he may face a fine of up to $1,000, six months in jail, or both, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes.