‘I’ll chop you in the neck’: Man accused of threatening neighbor again, with an axe this time, report says

DUNNELLON, Fla. – This case takes having a neighborly dispute to a new level.

A man in Florida told police “he heard a loud banging noise coming from the front of his yard” and when he looked, he saw his neighbor had come “over to his property and threatened him with an axe.”

That was on Sept. 15. It wasn’t all, and it was far from the first time, according to the arrest report.

“Approximately two weeks ago,” the victim said, “the suspect came onto his property and vandalized his power meter box. He did not report this because he did not have it on camera and Duke Energy advised they would fix/replace it.”

The report does not mention how or why the feud started, nor David Lee Barr’s apparent obsession with his neighbor’s power box, or whether the victim’s power was actually cut off.

“When he heard the noise today,” the report continued, “he rushed out to the power box and observed the suspect damaging the power meter box with an axe.

“The suspect began to flee, in which the victim shouted out, ‘What are you doing?’

“The suspect turned around with the axe and began to charge the victim in an aggressive manner, telling him, ‘I’ll chop you in the neck.’

“Because of having to live next to the suspect for many years, now the victim carries pepper spray.

“When the suspect charged him, the victim pulled out the pepper spray and began to spray the suspect.

“The victim took me to where he sprayed the suspect, at which I was still able to smell the odor of the pepper spray in the air.”

And this time, he reportedly caught the neighbor on camera – sort of.

“After the incident two weeks ago,” the arrest report explained, “the victim has set up a game camera facing towards his power box. He showed me the pictures it took on his computer.

“Amongst the photos I observed, at 2116 hours, you can see a human silhouette near the power box; however, right before the victim comes out to see what’s going on, the figure leaves, out of the view of the camera. Once out of the camera’s view is where the suspect came at the victim with the axe.

“The victim obviously coming face-to-face with the suspect gave him an opportunity to positively identify him. 

“I observed the thick glass that covers the meter reader on the power box to be shattered,” the deputy wrote, “and laying on the ground, consistent with getting hit with a heavy object. The digital display on the box was also ripped off of the unit.

“Over the past few years, the victim has had numerous problems with the suspect. Below are documented incidents I could find just from running the victim’s address in our system: 

“5/21/2021 – Suspect accused of threatening the victim with a knife. 

“9/2/2021 – Suspect came over to the victim’s property and was verbal with him and his mother. 

“9/7/2021 – Suspect accused of vandalizing the victim’s car. 

“1/12/2022 – Suspect accused of throwing screws in the victim’s driveway. 

“11/8/2022 – Suspect came over to their property and was verbal with them. 

“10/24/2023 – Suspect caught on camera vandalizing the victim’s mailbox, in which a warrant was issued. 

“11/23/2023 – Suspect came back to the location and banged on the victim’s door. 

“11/25/2023 – Suspect came back to the location and banged on the reportee’s door. He was located and arrested, per his warrant issued for case [number]. He was also issued a trespass warning to prevent him from returning to the location.”

The charge was criminal mischief with property damage under $200, and Barr spent two-and-a-half months behind bars.

“08/21/2024 – Suspect caught on camera removing the victim’s mailbox from the post and taking it, in which a warrant was issued and is currently still active.”

Besides those calls for help, the deputy even wrote about his personal experience, “having dealt with the suspect over the last few years.

“I knew that the best opportunity to catch him outside of his residence would have been right away. Normally, when the suspect sees law enforcement, he flees to his residence and does not come out, once he is inside.

“When we arrived, we were able to see the suspect pacing inside of his living room area. After some time, the suspect turned his lights off and presumably went to bed. After knocking on the door, giving loud verbal announcements for the presence of law enforcement, the suspect did not come outside.”

Ironically, the arrest report did not describe this latest arrest of Barr, who also had a warrant for petit theft.

The victim hasn’t had to worry about Barr, 62, for more than a month.

He has been in jail, charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, trespassing after warning, resisting without violence, and that warrant for petit theft.