Liberty neighborhood suffers ongoing dispute

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

One member of the neighborhood said she wants the dispute to end.

LIBERTY — A long-running neighborhood dispute has captured much police attention, landed two township residents in court and left law enforcement officials exasperated.

Dennis Bryan, 48, of 1710 Lucretia Drive, was charged with two counts of aggravated menacing, a fifth-degree felony, Thursday afternoon. He is now free on bond.

Police Sgt. Don Mills said Bryan’s neighbor, Jennifer Sehon, 31, of 1884 Lucretia Drive, told police that Bryan sometime last week pointed a gun at her and a friend, then fired a shot in the air as the two ran away. Mills said several weapons were confiscated during Bryan’s arrest.

“We seized several guns for safekeeping, given the history of everything going on in that neighborhood. There was a shotgun, four or five rifles and several handguns. There were guns in virtually every room of the house,” said Mills.

Mills said two of the rifles were loaded assault rifles, one resting near a window. The house, Mills said, also has surveillance cameras pointing in three directions.

According to Mills, the day Bryan was accused of pointing the gun at Sehon and firing a shot into the air, is the same day Sehon returned from court facing charges of assaulting Bryan’s wife. Those charges, after an investigation, were reduced to disorderly conduct to which Sehon pleaded no contest. She was fined $150.

Police say the Bryan and Sehon families are no strangers to one another: The families have been embroiled in an ongoing dispute that dates back nearly five years.

Police have a stack of reports dating back to early 2004 detailing the dispute between the two families. The reports include allegations of foul language, demeaning hand gestures, human feces left on property and sometimes physical confrontations.

Mills said police are not sure how the dispute started, but they want to see it end. Officers have gone out to the neighborhood several times in an attempt to mediate disputes, and Police Chief Tony Slifka has invited the families to the police station in an attempt to resolve the issues.

“We cannot understand why this is still going on. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for it,” said Mills. “Now, we had to do something. When there are firearms involved, no good can come of it. This has to stop.”

Bryan, contacted by phone Thursday afternoon, refused to comment.

Sehon said she is tired of the entire situation.

According to Sehon, the dispute started in 2004 when Bryan’s wife accused Sehon’s father and another man of indecent exposure. Sehon said she filed a defamation of character suit against the woman and “since then everything has gone haywire.”

Sehon said the dispute has led to a list of harassing actions against her family. She said she tried to approach Bryan’s wife and end the dispute peacefully, but she was accused of assault, resulting in the disorderly charge to which she pleaded last week.

“This has gotten to the point that my daughter is seeing a psychiatrist. She is only 5 years old,” she said.

Sehon said she now just wants peace in the neighborhood.

“My wish is that we could just coexist in the neighborhood. What is done is done. I am fearful for my life. I am fearful for my daughter’s life,” she said. “I know they are not going to like me and I am not going to like them, but if they are not moving and we are not going to move, we need to find some way to coexist in this neighborhood.”

jgoodwin@vindy.com