‘You’re on welfare’ remark stirs trouble in Macon

She finally had enough. A man wouldn’t quit walking through her yard. So on May 16, a 38-year-old east Macon woman called the police. She said the man, a neighbor who lives four doors down, cuts through her lawn on his way home. He’d done so at least three times that she knew of. A Bibb County sheriff’s report of the matter said that each time the woman had “politely” asked the man not to trespass. Her house is in a neighborhood behind Harveys Supermarket in Shurlington Plaza. “Today,” the report noted, “the male became disorderly and started to insult and curse. … Among the things said were, ‘You don’t work. You’re just on welfare.’ This caused the victim to become upset and call the police.” The remarks were said to have been made in front of the woman’s young children. While a sheriff’s deputy was at the woman’s house, the man in question, who is 30, drove past. The deputy followed him home. “(He) seemed as if he knew why I was there,” the deputy’s write-up said. “He stated, ‘Her yard is city property and she has no right to say anything to me because she doesn’t work.’” The deputy’s report said that while the man was not immediately arrested, a disorderly conduct warrant would be issued for him.

Watch video from the Cop Shop:

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "‘You’re on welfare’ remark stirs trouble in Macon."