4:30 a.m. mowing leads to Oklahoma City man's arrest

Phil Ray Gage, 40, of Oklahoma City ran into trouble Friday when he mowed his yard at 4:30 a.m., drawing complaints from at least one neighbor.

BY MATT PATTERSON mpatterson@opubco.com
Published: August 30, 2011

Lawn-mowing in the early hours of the morning isn't something most neighbors would appreciate, and an Oklahoma City man found that out the hard way.

Phil Ray Gage, 40, was arrested on a complaint of disturbing the peace after a neighbor called to report him for mowing his lawn at 2529 NW 33 at 4:30 a.m. Friday, Oklahoma City police said. He was released by police at the scene after he signed a citation for disturbing the peace.

According to police reports, Gage became argumentative when officers arrived and asked him to turn off his mower. Gage told police he goes to work at 6 a.m. and because of that he can mow anytime he wants.


Read more: http://newsok.com/430-a.m.-mowing-leads-to-oklahoma-city-mans-arrest/article/3599573#ixzz1WZULldSQ


Whatever happened to being a good neighbor?

This guy should have waited until he had a day off or did this after work when people were not sleeping. I never understand why the police have to be called on this. I think it's shameful somebody didn't have the guts to just walk out their ask the guy to stop.

Honestly, I think people need to grow up and deal learn to deal with adults like adults. Calling the police just makes the situations like this worse. You always know who calls the cops on you. Now Ray will be targeting the neighbor and looking at way get even. It all goes down hill at that point. Police and city inspectors are called on every little issue. Sometimes it gets worse were property is vandalized or people are assaulted.

I have never had much respect for people that tattle and hide behind authority figures like children hiding behind their parents. If you have a problem with someone be civil and try to settle it on your own. In most cases you make a new friend in the end.

This is just tragic. He should sue the police department for unlawful arrest. First, we need to find out if there are a law or regulation that forbid mowing at 4:30am. If nothing, then sue the police department and the neighbor for harassment.

Mowing = Disturbing the Peace = LOL!!! A sad joke. :-(

Many people are actually mowing very early in the morning in this sensational Heat Wave that is now bringing us raging wildfires.

Whatever happened to being a good neighbor?

I think this is the key question. The poor neighbor here is the insenstitive clod that was mowing his lawn that early in the morning. Hiding behind the police? If this guy was thoughtless enough to mow at 4:30AM, he would have just flipped off anyone who questioned him. THis is how fistfights get started. If he doesn't want to get cited, don't do something so stupid as mowing at 4:30AM. He got what he should have gotten.

I think this is the key question. The poor neighbor here is the insenstitive clod that was mowing his lawn that early in the morning. Hiding behind the police? If this guy was thoughtless enough to mow at 4:30AM, he would have just flipped off anyone who questioned him. THis is how fistfights get started. If he doesn't want to get cited, don't do something so stupid as mowing at 4:30AM. He got what he should have gotten.

I agree, mug. We don't know anything about what the relationship of these neighbors was before this incident. I suspect, however, that this was an intentional way to annoy or irritate his neighbors. He knew exactly what kind of problem he would cause.

He must have had his yard well lighted to mow. Or do some people think they can mow in the dark quite well, or maybe with some assistance from moonlight?

He must have had his yard well lighted to mow. Or do some people think they can mow in the dark quite well, or maybe with some assistance from moonlight?

My John Deere mower has headlights. I never like to use it when it's dark but it's possible.

This is just tragic. He should sue the police department for unlawful arrest. First, we need to find out if there are a law or regulation that forbid mowing at 4:30am. If nothing, then sue the police department and the neighbor for harassment.

Mowing = Disturbing the Peace = LOL!!! A sad joke. :-(

The law he broke was not about mowing specifically it was about the level of noise he was making, mowers are generally one of the loudest things people own at home, and most every city has restrictions on how much noise you can make starting sometime around 10 PM going to 6 AM. Depending on the density of the neighborhoods that is keeping from dozens up to around a hundred from sleeping, which is why their are codes against it.

If he got argumentative with the cops, what do you think he would have done with a neighbor? My guess is he would have been arrested for a lot more than disturbing the peace.

This is just tragic. He should sue the police department for unlawful arrest. First, we need to find out if there are a law or regulation that forbid mowing at 4:30am. If nothing, then sue the police department and the neighbor for harassment.

Mowing = Disturbing the Peace = LOL!!! A sad joke. :-(

Many people are actually mowing very early in the morning in this sensational Heat Wave that is now bringing us raging wildfires.

Aren't you deaf?

And here I was wondering if my neighbors would mind when I started at 9ish the other morning. By comparison I'm a prince.

That was one of the things I loved about my rechargeable electric mower - I wake up around 4:30 a.m. and I'd often mow around 5:30 a.m. - but the mower was so quite you had no idea it was on except for the slight noise of the leaves and twigs being ground up. Sadly it only lasted a couple of years. Now mowing is my Sunday morning ritual (9a.m.ish).

I agree, the only bad neighbor was the dip mowing with a gas mower that early in the morning. I seriously doubt this was the first time he did this and there would have been no arrest/citation had he simply stopped mowing and waited for an appropriate time.

People who make these comments annoy the heck out of me....
I have never had much respect for people that tattle and hide behind authority figures like children hiding behind their parents. If you have a problem with someone be civil and try to settle it on your own.

Its a no win situation. If you confront the neighbor who obviously has no common sense or respect for his fellow neighbors and the situation gets out of hand then people will yell he should have called the police. If he calls the police then people say he's a "tattle tale."

While in this case the neighbor claims he's been doing this for 10-years with no negative response from neighbors. Common sense should have told him otherwise. He also claims he was friendly as could be and not argumentative with the cop. Who knows - I can see it going either way. People lie about their interactions with cops and cops lie about their interactions with the public.

Regardless - doesn't change my opinion in this circumstance. Call the cops and let them handle this type of situation.

I personally have zero tolerance with neighbors who are showing disrespect. Each instance dictates how you should handle it. I have a neighbor I respect that used to start up his motorcycle at 5:30 a.m. when heading to work. I told him it wakes my wife up (our bedroom window is right next to his driveway). He agreed to start the cycle in the garage and then open the door and coast into the street. No more issue.

Another neighbor had a dog that would bark at night wanting to go inside. We tried complaining to the neighbor and it almost resulted in a fight. The only fix was to call police and sign a ticket on one occasion (cop didn't hear the dog) and the other occasion the cop did his own ticket because he witnessed the noise. After costing him a few hundred bucks he took care of the issue.

In this case I'd call the cops too. I'm not getting up (if still asleep) getting dressed and confronting a neighbor that has to know what he is doing is insensitive and doesn't care. Let a cop see it, make a report and handle it however is necessary.

Also, calling the cops puts a neighbor in a much better situation should the confrontations continue. This way you have a record of ongoing issues.

1) If the guy would quit wasting drinking water watering his lawn during a drought he probably wouldn't have felt the need to mow it.

2) I wonder what the result would have been had the guy been exercising his "right" to trespass on other people's eardrums by cranking up the thumping bass--backed by obscene urban jungle chants--on his car stereo. (Probably not even a warning by the authorities.)

1) If the guy would quit wasting drinking water watering his lawn during a drought he probably wouldn't have felt the need to mow it.

2) I wonder what the result would have been had the guy been exercising his "right" to trespass on other people's eardrums by cranking up the thumping bass--backed by obscene urban jungle chants--on his car stereo. (Probably not even a warning by the authorities.)

I know an OCPD officer right now that has a citizen complaint being investigated because he approached some dingbat in a parking lot at a children's sporting event and told him to turn his music down after other parents asked if he could do anything about it. According to the officer the kid was blasting some sort of rap type music that had lots of expletives in the lyrics and the parents found it too loud, a nuisance and obscene.

The kid turned it down. But then as he left he cranked it back up and peeled out. Later he filed a complaint and said something to the effect the music was a reflection of his culture (white kid FYI). The kid didn't even get a ticket, so he should consider himself lucky.

Actually, it is a good thing that the young, culturally clueless, moron filed the complaint: Now he has turned himself into a target for a ticket for every minor traffic violation known to man. (At least in the world where I am both Chief of Police and Mayor. You know . . . Like in Mayberry. Or Mayfield. =)

Of course, the early morning landscaper could solve the whole problem--except for the water wasting--by using a mower such as one pictured below.

Od4DPR3lySE

(And the StereoScofflaw could be sentenced to "Community Service" by mowing all of the local right-of-ways using the same type piece of equipment! Without headphones or earbuds!)

This is just tragic. He should sue the police department for unlawful arrest.

Another uninformed and silly thought. If the complaining party wants to sign a citation the offier CANNOT REFUSE AND MUST ALLOW the citizen to sign. So to properly inform you the citizen arrested the neighbor NOT the officer. As usual the current is not running your way.

Sometimes you have no choice other then to get the police involved. I just think people should make an honest effort to solve a problem on their own. I see this many times around my work place. People will take their problems to a supervisor without even saying a word to the person(s) creating the problem.

The guy should have known better and waited for a time most people are awake. I am willing to bet both him and the officer was annoyed over the fact the police were called over mowing the lawn at an odd hour. At that hour of the night most police officers are taking advantage of downtime by catching up on paperwork or making patrols in areas that normally don't see police coverage because of call volume.

Bottomline both parties in this situation (Caller and Lawnboy) should have just had a polite conversation and moved on. It always works in your favor to be a good neighbor.

It didn't say in the article but I wonder if he and his neighbors have had problems before. If he got argumentative with the police then the chances of him being a jerk to his neighbors is pretty good.

And here I was wondering if my neighbors would mind when I started at 9ish the other morning. By comparison I'm a prince.

I think 9AM is reasonable. Most people should be up and about by that time. Most likely, if you aren't up by 9AM you won't be up by noon either.

LOL @ having a "polite conversation" with the asshole next door who's mowing the yard before the crack of dawn. Yeah, right.

But then as he left he cranked it back up and peeled out.

I had a friend who got a $250 exhibition of speed ticket for doing just that.

As for the lawnmower man (crappy movie btw) - maybe a bb gun and a grassy knoll would have been in order.

Reel mower.

Reel mower.

This. I can mow anytime I want.

This. I can mow anytime I want.


Cool. Any chance you and your reel mower would want to mow at my house soon? I'm not certain there is a task I care less for, and my youngest has moved out of state for his ministry program.

This. I can mow anytime I want.

Not if your reel mower has a gasoline engine!!!!!

If he got argumentative with the cops, what do you think he would have done with a neighbor? My guess is he would have been arrested for a lot more than disturbing the peace.

It didn't say in the article but I wonder if he and his neighbors have had problems before. If he got argumentative with the police then the chances of him being a jerk to his neighbors is pretty good.
According to him, he didn't exactly get "argumentative":

“When the officer came up to me she asked me if I knew it was illegal to mow at that time of day,” Gage said. “I thought she was cracking a joke. Then she told me to get up against the car, and she put cuffs on me.”

According to him, he didn't exactly get "argumentative":

The two sides of the story are often different, and frequently are selective on details.

I bought a reel mower two years ago to take better care of our small back yard. Used it twice. Oh well - best intentions! (On neither occasion did I use it at 4:30 a.m., nor was I tempted!)

All we had when I was a kid was a reel mower. Actually, we had several of them. None of which worked worth a [darn] but my "old school" dad refused to step into the 20th Century vis-a-vis lawn care. Especially in order to mow the "postage stamp" lawn in our 50's vintage suburban neighborhood.

I felt so deprived that I even enjoyed winding the rope with the knot at the end around that deal with the little notch on the top of those cutting-edge machines that our more forward-thinking neighbors possessed and giving it several pulls just to hear the engine start.

All we had when I was a kid was a reel mower. Actually, we had several of them. None of which worked worth a [darn] but my "old school" dad refused to step into the 20th Century vis-a-vis lawn care. Especially in order to mow the "postage stamp" lawn in our 50's vintage suburban neighborhood.

I felt so deprived that I even enjoyed winding the rope with the knot at the end around that deal with the little notch on the top of those cutting-edge machines that our more forward-thinking neighbors possessed and giving it several pulls just to hear the engine start.


I remember both all too well lol

I had a friend who got a $250 exhibition of speed ticket for doing just that.

As for the lawnmower man (crappy movie btw) - maybe a bb gun and a grassy knoll would have been in order.

Hmmm good idea

As you'd suspect, there's more to the story than a guy mowing his lawn one time at 4:30 a.m. The police report was released (http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/s2report0001.pdf) which makes it clear that things escallated when the resident brought race into it. The citizen (apparently black) addressed the investigating officer (apparently white) as "n*****" (huh?) and "racist" before stating, "It's only against the law because I'm black."

The reporting party stated that his neighbor had been "mowing and disturbing his sleep all summer."

And shock of shocks the arresstee was on the media lying thru his teeth that he did nothing wrong and did not escalate the situaiton, yeah right. I wonder what he would say on camera now if confronted with his own words?

And shock of shocks the arresstee was on the media lying thru his teeth that he did nothing wrong and did not escalate the situaiton, yeah right. I wonder what he would say on camera now if confronted with his own words?

Excuse me, you need to be extremely careful. There is no video evidence. Police are known to lie. JUST ASK BRIAN!!! Police had lied about this and that until Brian's videos exposed their lies. This guy was mowing all summer, so that makes it his usual routine. The neighbor didn't even call in to whine until nearly Summer being over. Hmm... I'm going to believe the policeman was falsifying reports as usual.

Sure I've seen cops lie, but I have no doubt the cop would have preferred to have avoided the hour it probably took to leave the scene and the additional hour it most likely took to do the paperwork. Considering the defendant was using extremely poor judgement when the officer arrived, my vote says the cop's story is closer to the truth than the dip who was mowing.

This guy was mowing all summer, so that makes it his usual routine. The neighbor didn't even call in to whine until nearly Summer being over. Hmm... I'm going to believe the policeman was falsifying reports as usual.

Here you are assuming facts not in evidence. A usual fault of your youth and lack of life experiences. You might want to be very careful in your UNFOUNDED and UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS. Many officers are fighting back and suing citizens who make false accusations, and rightfully so. Many are winning large judgements. What is good for the people works both ways.

And Brian just vindicated my statement. Feel like a fool yet Thunder???

why would someone mowing his lawn 4:30 in the morning if he want to mow his lawn do it at 7:00 in the morning because people are usually up by then

This guy was mowing all summer, so that makes it his usual routine. The neighbor didn't even call in to whine until nearly Summer being over. Hmm... I'm going to believe the policeman was falsifying reports as usual.

Thunder, just because no-one complained the first time doesn't make it OK. People will be cutting their lawns well into October unless we get a early, cold weather, which this year isn't likely.

Incidentally, check this guy out on OSCN and you'll find that he's the poster boy for bad behavior, with numerous protective orders and miscellaneous criminal charges filed against him. And according to the County Assessor, he bought his house in December, so this is the first summer that his neighbors have had to put up with him. Sounds like they cut him some slack until they decided that they'd had enough.

The guy's a nut and his neighbors reached their limits. So back to your allegation about the police officers (there were two responding officers) falsifying reports...

Excuse me, you need to be extremely careful. There is no video evidence. Police are known to lie. JUST ASK BRIAN!!! Police had lied about this and that until Brian's videos exposed their lies. This guy was mowing all summer, so that makes it his usual routine. The neighbor didn't even call in to whine until nearly Summer being over. Hmm... I'm going to believe the policeman was falsifying reports as usual.

What crime do you get away with automatically because you have been doing it weekly for a few months, often that is more reason that they would not give the lightest option at their discretion. I would suspect that they were argumentative or something since if normally if they tell you it is illegal and you indicate you did not know and stop then they are more likely to just warn you vs arrest you over a minor issue like this.

What crime do you get away with automatically because you have been doing it weekly for a few months.

Why are you accusing me of being a criminal?

Why are you accusing me of being a criminal?

No, you stated that since the guy had been doing it for months that it should not an issue, which in many cases people doing illegal acts just keep repeatedly doing the same things till they get caught. Sometimes they are honest mistakes, however by your the age you are buying renting a house you should have some idea that if you make a lot of noise at night people will call the police.

I usually mow in the evening. Sometime I mow around 6am, if I am up (usually sunrise means bedtime).

I usually mow in the evening. Sometime I mow around 6am, if I am up (usually sunrise means bedtime).

I thought you lived in an apartment, if so, why do "you" have to mow the lawn.

I thought you lived in an apartment, if so, why do "you" have to mow the lawn.

Why do you not assume that there are plenty of lawns that I do service?

Here you are assuming facts not in evidence. A usual fault of your youth and lack of life experiences. You might want to be very careful in your UNFOUNDED and UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS. Many officers are fighting back and suing citizens who make false accusations, and rightfully so. Many are winning large judgements. What is good for the people works both ways.

And Brian just vindicated my statement. Feel like a fool yet Thunder???

Notice how he skipped right over this?

Thunder, just because no-one complained the first time doesn't make it OK. People will be cutting their lawns well into October unless we get a early, cold weather, which this year isn't likely.

Incidentally, check this guy out on OSCN and you'll find that he's the poster boy for bad behavior, with numerous protective orders and miscellaneous criminal charges filed against him. And according to the County Assessor, he bought his house in December, so this is the first summer that his neighbors have had to put up with him. Sounds like they cut him some slack until they decided that they'd had enough.

The guy's a nut and his neighbors reached their limits. So back to your allegation about the police officers (there were two responding officers) falsifying reports...

and this.