Honking Conspiracy? Couple Suing 40 People Over Claims Of Incessant Beeping At Their House

If only he had one of these signs… (afagen)

Getting honked at even once is annoying enough, but one Ohio couple claims there’s a veritable conspiracy at work dedicated to beeping at their house over 5,000 times in the last seven years. They’re suing 40 people over it, saying their town has now turned against them.

Rick and Cindy tell 20/20 in an upcoming episode that horns have been honking consistently over the years after a complicated real estate dispute back in 2007.

“In the beginning, it was 100 times a day,” he said, adding that it’s now settled down to once or twice a day. But he claims it happened so often, he can figure out if a car is an import or a domestic car now, just by how it sounds when it honks

See, at the time the house next door was sold, Rick ended up suing the then fire chief, whose family had owned the house for several generations. It was a complicated affair and the chief ended up winning, but by then it seems he was pretty ticked off at his now neighbor.

Rick claims the man and his family fought back by organizing a conspiracy of horn honking that has continued to this day, and has set up surveillance cameras to get an eye on all those who honk while driving past.

He’s now suing 40 alleged beepers, including his neighbors.

But his neighbors say they’ve got nothing to do with any conspiracy, that the couple’s son’s friends just blow the horn as a way to say goodbye. And even if a fire truck and others have been caught on tape honking outside the houses, the man blames his neighbors for bringing it upon themselves.

“Why wouldn’t you be against him … and what he is doing to everybody?” he told “20/20.” “Do you realize he has got 700 cases going to court?”

“If you beep your horn one time, he’ll take you to court,” his wife added.” “Just a regular beep or just to beep at the neighbors across the street, he’ll take you to court.”

For now the situation is unsolved, though 20/20 is promoting a “Peace and Reconciliation Barbecue” it invited all parties to, which of course it will air in the upcoming episode so we can all find out if hamburgers and hot dogs resolved everything.

Why Has This Man Been Honked at Over 5,000 Times? [ABC News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist