Cops: Gun-toting HOA officer threatened residents watching fireworks

[alp227]

Well, well, well. History repeats itself, doesn't it?

A resident watching fireworks explode late Thursday over The Hamptons at MetroWest on Turkey Lake said she feared for her life when a man carrying what looked like a machine gun ordered her to leave, according to Orlando police.

The heavily armed man turned out to be Swapna Mandavia's neighbor with the title of "chairman of the fine and hearing violations" committee for the west Orlando complex's homeowners association.

"The suspect, later identified as Howard Fox, approached her and told her to leave because it was after hours," according to an arrest report released Friday. "Mandavia began to leave the pier when Fox raised the gun and pointed it at Mandavia and said she was doing something illegal."

Another resident with two children then complained about a stranger openly carrying firearms. That's when Mandavia, 36, noticed that Fox, 47, was pointing the gun at her again, and she called 911 for help, the report stated.

I wonder if Fox even follows the news at all. Because ANOTHER armed neighborhood watch volunteer from his very area is on trial RIGHT NOW because his actions caused the DEATH of an innocent person!

[The Straight Story]

1. Hell, if he keeps that up they will make him a cop (nt)

[Hoyt]

2. Thank god for "responsible" gun owners.

[Hoyt]

7. Maybe someday you gun humpers will actually act responsibly, rather than just talking about it.

[galileoreloaded]

12. cause im a humping dog!!

[Booster]

21. That's an insult to humping dogs. You're just an a....le.

[TheMadMonk]

32. Imagery time: One could only wish they were good enough to make their "lover" orgasm. /nt

[In_The_Wind]

39. Oh look, it's a selfie

[RebelOne]

3. It was not in his area.

Cape Coral is on the west coast of Florida and Sanford is on the east coast.

[yardwork]

5. This happened in west Orlando, not Cape Coral

The heavily armed man turned out to be Swapna Mandavia's neighbor with the title of "chairman of the fine and hearing violations" committee for the west Orlando complex's homeowners association.

[nashville_brook]

8. omg...not Orlando, again!

[DURHAM D]

11. Hi yardie.

Did you see this ? -

"The first officers to reach the 776-unit complex found Fox at home, where he said property managers gave him permission to enforce HOA rules."

In the article the manager denies it but does admit to providing the crazy community commando the ability to document and report. Only the Board of Directors can authorize the commando to document and report so the manager is beyond incompetent. The professional fuckups of HOA property managers in Florida is just staggering.

[HooptieWagon]

38. HOAs are notoriously fucked up.

And I won't even get in to the Condo Commandos.

[yardwork]

42. It's the 21st century version of "sundown towns."

Gated condo associations with volunteer gun nuts handling security with the blessing of the HOA. The local LEO see nothing wrong with this arrangement.

[silverweb]

4. "After hours"?

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]HOAs get to set curfews for people, too? WTF?

I'd rather be homeless than ever, ever live under the thumb of a HOA.

[Callmecrazy]

9. They totally suck!

I hate when some motherfucker tells me how to behave in my own neighborhood or even in my home. I actually had a neighbor complain about the plants I had hanging in my screened in balcony. It's my fucking house and I'll hang any goddamn plant I choose to in my own home. And the HOA is a management company. Republicans all. They scream about freedom as long as they can dictate how much freedom you have. No residents are on the board. Residents don't even have voice or vote and they think they can tell me how to behave? What is this? A concentration camp?

[silverweb]

13. Sounds like a concentration camp.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Busybodies and meddlesome thugs running the place. I'd rather live in a cardboard box under a bridge.

[Callmecrazy]

14. Yeah, well...

The rent is affordable and we get a lot of rain here in So. Fla so a cardboard box is not an option. It used to be my late father's place so it has a lot of memories.

[silverweb]

15. I see your point.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Maybe one of these days, people will have had enough of the bullshit and start a resident revolt.

[Callmecrazy]

16. And I'll be handing out the torches. nt

[silverweb]

17. And I'll be cheering you on!

[Pelican]

18. Did you agree to their contract when you moved in?

Were you provided with the rules and restrictions when you came into the neighborhood?

[Callmecrazy]

20. To hell with the rules.

Who the fuck are they to tell me how to live in my own home? This is still America goddamn it.
HOA's act just like the Taliban. Now were taking lessons from the losers? BTW, I signed nothing and still moved in to my dad's place. And possession is nine-tenths of the law. For now, they can't touch me.

[Pelican]

22. Is your father deceased...

... or did you just move back to your parents?

[Callmecrazy]

40. Passed away two years ago.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

31. Some HOA supporters will invariably say that a person should have read the HOA rules

before buying a unit covered by the HOA.

HOA rules cannot suspend State law, however. Florida Statute 790.10 makes it a crime to display a weapon in a "a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense"
http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2012/790.10

[rdharma]

34. And what if these folks aren't residents in the HOA?

Can an armed a-hole chase them away at gun point?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

19. A fucking machine gun???? WTF????

At least Zimmerman has a handgun. WTF does this jackhole Fox need a machine gun for?

God damn, I hate HOAs and Neighborhood Watch people. Curtis Sliwa and his Guardian Angel vigilante posses has become Neighborhood watch.

Why can't it be like the old days, when your neighbors were the strangers you lived next door to? Now, they have their noses in my toilet trying to figure out what I ate for breakfast as the shit leaves my ass.

[Warpy]

29. Neighborhood watch people in my area are armed with pots and pans

and cleaned up the area by making a lot of racket and chasing off customers, encouraging the drug business to move elsewhere.

The provocation had to be extreme for this stuff to happen.

[JoeyT]

33. Probably not a machine gun.

"Looked like a machine gun" doesn't mean much.

Course even if it was a BB gun he's still a fucking psycho that needs a nice felony conviction. Then he won't be tempted to go around pointing guns at people.

Edited to add: Ah, the full story says it was a .40 caliber rifle. He also claims he was carrying it for "small animals" which is probably a lie: a .40 isn't exactly a varmint gun for the same reason you don't hunt deer with a tank.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

37. .40 Cal for small game hunting? There won't be much left of that small to put on a toothpick with

that caliber arms. Anyone knows that.

I hate these gundamentalist wanna-be cowboy assholes.

[TheMadMonk]

35. Highly doubtful it was a machine gun, but London to a housebrick it was something "impressive".

Foregrip, bits wrapped around the barrel, depending banana clip magazine, matte finish, and all the other bollock inflating crap, that looks cool, but is totally unnecessary on a civilian weapon.

[JohnnyRingo]

23. There's absolutely a law against pointing a gun at someone.

...as there obviously should be.

Time for a hefty civil suit. If he was under the homeowners' assn employ, they should be responsible too.

[arely staircase]

24. I bet Fox watches Fox nt

[arely staircase]

25. just read the story. two questions

silencers?

and

"chairman of the fine and hearing violations"?

[rdharma]

26. HOAs have written guidlines.

He probably has silencers so he doesn't violate the HOA noise regulations if he has to cap some HOA regulation violators!

Sounds fine to me! What's the problem?

[arely staircase]

28. shit i didn't even make the connection

hearing committee/silencers



good catch

[AnotherMcIntosh]

27. It is a crime under the Florida Statutes, 790.10, to display a weapon in a "a rude, careless, angry,

or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense"

http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2012/790.10

The weapon does not have to be a firearm.

[rdharma]

30. BTW - NOT a cop!

Unless the county sheriff deputized this Barney Fife....... he's just another George Zimmerman type vigilante!

[DRoseDARs]

36. Swapna Mandavia? Sounds like she was Loitering While Non-White. nt

[HappyMe]

41. Holy crap.