Act of hatred or just an act?
Neighbors accused of terror
Sunday, January 01, 2006
John Beale, Post-Gazette
Paula Barber stands in the kitchen of her vandalized home.
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
LUZERNE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Barber family says neighborhood antagonists have poisoned their dogs, defaced their property with swastikas and tried to burn down their house. They claim they are under attack because they are Jewish.
John Beale, Post-Gazette
Rollin "Mike" Barber says his home was vandalized, a fire was set in the basement, and dogs in his wife's dog shelter were injured. Mr. Barber and his wife, Paula, think that they aren't liked because they're Jewish and because of the kennel. He's seen in a bathroom mirror that was vandalized in their home in Luzerne, Fayette County.
Click photo for larger image.
"Have you ever seen 'Deliverance?' " said Rollin "Mike" Barber, who equates his family's situation with the movie depicting four city men who are terrorized by hoodlums from a backwater. "That's what we're up against."
Residents of the Fayette County hamlets of Luzerne and Redstone say Dr. Barber's claims are false and absurd.
"Every crime they have reported to the police has been staged. They're doing it themselves," said Henry Friend, 49, a resident of the area for 22 years.
Mr. Friend says the Barbers are trying to whip up public sympathy with their claims of ethnic intimidation. He contends that the real issue with the Barbers is not their Judaism, but their operation of a noisy kennel that has housed between 40 and 130 dogs.
Fayette County court records show that Dr. Barber's wife, Paula, was convicted 15 times last year of causing excessive noise. Each case stemmed from complaints about the kennel, situated near the family home. Mrs. Barber is appealing, saying decibel readings show noise created by the dogs is minimal.
Mrs. Barber said many of the attacks on her home and animals seemed to coincide with court hearings. Her neighbors, though, said they have made a point of avoiding her, for fear that any innocent crossing of paths could lead to more allegations.
"She wants to make this an anti-Semitism issue, but the truth is that nobody cares what religion she is," Mr. Friend said. "I guarantee nobody in this neighborhood has done a thing to them."
Bruce Rechichar, 51, another neighbor, says he knows the Barbers only from zoning and court hearings about their kennel.
"I didn't know they were Jewish and it didn't matter to me," he said. "I just want some peace and quiet."
For her part, Mrs. Barber says she fears for her life and the lives of her relatives.
"We're convinced we're going to be killed if we stay here," she said last week as she stood in her kitchen, which she says was trashed by intruders.
Mrs. Barber, 46, and her husband, who is 73, have lived in Luzerne and operated their rescue kennel throughout their eight-year marriage. During the last several months, they have sent complaints about a neighborhood crime wave to police, prosecutors, the FBI, newspapers, television stations and the Anti-Defamation League.
Mrs. Barber's daughter Rachel, 19, and her mother, Pauline Bryner Lappe, 73, also lived in the family home until a Nov. 29 arson. The Barbers say someone broke into the house and set a fire in the basement, forcing them to abandon their home for a hotel.
Lt. Bernard Petrovsky, of the Pennsylvania State Police in Belle Vernon, has dispatched his troopers to the Barbers' home numerous times to investigate claims of vandalism, arson, animal poisonings and anti-Semitism. Last week, he assigned a criminal investigator to delve back into every complaint.
"We're looking into all aspects of the case, including the authenticity of the charges," Lt. Petrovsky said.
Various officers who have inspected the Barbers' home have come away skeptical about the family's claims of criminal invasions.
For one thing, the dozens of dogs in the Barbers' yard make a ruckus anytime a stranger steps on the property. Plus, if people have broken into the Barbers' home, they appear to have lingered while selectively damaging property.
The fire in the basement, which the Barbers say was the work of someone bent on destruction, did not spread. "It was just smoke," Lt. Petrovsky said.
Somebody tore apart the kitchen after the fire, but did not touch a computer or Dr. Barber's impressive collection of books in adjoining rooms. Instead of stealing the computer or setting the books afire, the intruders used lipstick to write a threatening message on a mirror in the powder room.
"Get out or die," it said, adding a vile term for women. Somebody also took the time and trouble to find a bra from a closet or drawer, then drape it over the mirror.
Another allegation made by the Barbers is that intruders cut a swastika into a sofa. Swastikas previously were painted on a vehicle.
Mrs. Barber said it would make no sense for the family to damage its own home and property.
"What gain is there in this for us to fudge and make things up?" she asked. "There's absolutely no gain."
Dr. Barber, who teaches criminology and sociology at California University of Pennsylvania, says he is convinced the attacks are the work of people who dislike his family because they are well-educated Jews.
He holds three college degrees. Mrs. Barber has a bachelor's degree and a law degree.
Dr. Barber described his wife as "retired" from the practice of law, but state records show that the disciplinary board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended her license for two years.
The board on May 11 found her guilty of professional misconduct. Mrs. Barber, who practiced law under her maiden name of Paula Lappe, neglected two clients, the board found.
In one case, she accepted $9,500 to handle the appeal of a prison inmate, but then never worked on his case.
Court records also show that the Barbers at one point had a troubled marriage that included allegations of domestic violence. Mrs. Barber filed for divorce in 2000 and made an abuse complaint against her husband.
"We got in a fight," Dr. Barber said. "It became physical on both sides."
He said the episode would be embarrassing to him on his campus, so he asked that it not be reported in this story. Both the divorce filing and the abuse complaint ultimately were dropped. The Barbers stayed together.
This year, both have been active in publicizing their complaints of neighborhood harassment and anti-Semitism.
Mrs. Barber's most specific claim -- that Mr. Friend harassed and stalked her -- went before a district judge. Seeing no proof to support the charge, the judge acquitted Mr. Friend.
"I never did anything to her," he said. "But it cost me $300 to hire a lawyer to defend myself."
Lt. Petrovsky said he and his officers have found neighborhood residents most cooperative any time they check a complaint made by the Barbers.
"They're always pleasant and they'll tell us something like, 'What did they say we did this time?' " Lt. Petrovsky said.
The Barbers say stress from the attacks is eating them up. Dr. Barber says he has often slept outside the house to guard his family against attackers. He has not seen any, but he says all the women, at one time or another, have spotted intruders on their property.
Dr. Barber says he wants to remain in his home. But his wife says she wants to leave. A stumbling block, she says, is what to do with all the dogs she and her family care for.
Asked why the family had not used guard dogs or surveillance cameras to stop the intruders, Mrs. Barber said neither was practical.
"I'm afraid they would poison the dogs," she said.
She added that the cost of cameras was prohibitive.
Roy Mehalik, chief of the three-member Luzerne police department, said the Barbers' allegations of ethnically motivated crimes started after neighbors mobilized to protest their barking dogs.
In 31 years as a police officer in the area, Chief Mehalik said, he has seen only one documented case of a racially motivated crime. It occurred 18 years ago in Redstone -- a cross-burning aimed at a black man.
The Barbers say they have evidence of a raft of other cases, but Chief Mehalik and others have not been inclined to listen.
post-gazette.com |
