Rockville Centre, NY – A New York man says he didn’t know it was a crime to laugh.
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Robert Schiavelli of Rockville Centre, on Long Island, was slapped with two summonses for “disturbing the peace.”
Police responded to his home on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 after receiving complaints from his next-door neighbor that his loud laughs could be heard across the driveway.
The 42-year-old was charged with acting “in such a manner as to annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others.”
At his arraignment Tuesday, a judge declined to dismiss the charges.
Schiavelli tells the New York Post (http://bit.ly/WPGKHp ) his neighbor often taunts him due to his disability. He deals with it by laughing him off.
Schiavelli suffers from seizures and neurological impairments.
The neighbor didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“At his arraignment Tuesday, a judge declined to dismiss the charges.”
So, put in simple language, this totally risible case will proceed – at the taxpayers’ expense. That is no laughing matter at all.
Methinks there is more to this story than the headline would lead us to believe.
This is just crazy. The man has enough problems, let him have his laugh.
I hope Bloomberg doesn’t pick up on this
On a more serious note, I remember a few years ago a neighbor of mine made a simchas beis hashoeivo and there was loud noise way into the wee hours of the morning. I called them and explained that I need to get up the next morning at 7:00 to go to work, but my plea fell at deaf ears. After 3 phone calls and it still didn’t work I called police who arrived after a half hour only to tell me that there’s nothing they can do since the noise is coming from private property.
Ha ha
LOL. (Oops – not TOO loud).
The cops that arrested this joker I can excuse for being arrogant. But the judge? Is he out of his mind? I this what we need to have our courts busy with? Is this a police state?
He’s lucky he wasn’t caught drinking a 16 oz. soda out of a styrofoam cup while walking in a bike lane in Manhattan. They would really nail him for that!
don’t understand its still month of Adar?
If one has the need to cry is it OK to cry loud?
Hope he sues the neighbor for defamation of character and laughs all the way to the bank. What a waste of time and money and energy. I’d rather hear him laugh than hear him scream and beat up his wife and kids.
For crying out loud ! Oops….hmmm…is there an expression ‘For laughing out loud’?
I can’t stop laughing and I hope I won’t get arrested
I used to live in Williamsburg and there was an old Rabbi (ob”m) who used to sneeze very loudly’ I would hear him across the street
I just can’t imagine anyone calling the police about such things
don’t you gentlemen have anything better to due 3 weeks before pesach then stech each other anonymously over the internet?
What’s the plaintiff’s phone number? I want to call, laugh lysterically and hang up