Tuesday, February 15, 2005

One man's terrorist is another man's... neighbor?

Yahoo News (AP) | Rooster Recording Terrorizes Neighbors
BERLIN - A couple in northern Germany terrorized their neighbors by playing sounds of a rooster crowing in the middle of the night, police said Tuesday.

Sleep-deprived, the neighboring couple reported to police in the town of Wacken three times over the past week, saying the pair in the other half of their semidetached house seemed to have left a rooster in their home while on vacation.

The animal crowed "at an enormous volume" for 20 minutes between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., the couple told police.

Police entered the home Monday and discovered a recording set on a timer to play daily, with the speaker placed directly against the neighbors' wall. The 55-year-old man and his 50-year-old wife, still on vacation, were cited for causing bodily harm and disturbing the peace, police said.

Investigators said the motive was unclear because there was no known strife between the neighbors.
I'd be the first to admit that this would be extremely annoying, and I'd've called the police myself. "Disturbing the peace"? Surely. "Causing bodily harm"? That's a bit of a stretch.

But "terrorized"? Is that what the AP stylebook calls it these days?

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