Forget the Hatfields and McCoys; in San Antonio, TX, it’s all about the Martinezes and Dominguezes.
Police have been called to San Antonio’s Wildwood neighborhood approximately 140 times over disputes between neighbors Yolanda Martinez and Rick Dominguez.
It’s a tale fit for a slightly sad modern-day update of a timeless tragedy. The two families actually used to be closer than your typical neighbors. They were Facebook friends and hung out at each other’s houses. Dominguez even attended the wedding of Martinez’s daughter.
Details about what caused the falling-out are vague, especially since each side claims the other is lying. It seems like the trouble started when the Dominguez family began posting on Facebook about their new healthy lifestyle, and the unfriendly social media comments that followed sparked tension.
Fences are often used for security rather than aesthetics, but the four-foot tall wooden-and-latticework fence erected between the two houses during the feud has caused more contention than anything else. The Dominguez family even added 12 feet of corrugated metal on top of the fence that the Martinez family built.
There’s also an arsenal of security cameras on both sides of the fence, pointing at each other. Dominguez alone has almost 20.
According to Martinez, Dominguez began painting pigs on the fences when they were first erected. She assumed the other family was calling her family pigs, a theory that was reinforced by the Dominguez family making pig noises whenever they walked out of the house. A banner in the Dominguez backyard even portrayed two pigs having sex over an obscene message.
Dominguez claims that the Martinez family started the disputes by knocking down his garbage cans with a cattle prod. The pig images were in reference to him being terrorized with a tool used for livestock. As for the sexually active pigs, Dominguez claimed the banner was only visible by security camera and was a way to get back at the Martinez family for invading his privacy.
According to Police Chief Bill McManus, both sides are to blame, though much of the aggression seems to come from Dominguez. Both families have been ordered to stop the feud by the city, and the rest of the neighborhood is tired of the dispute.
Neighbor disputes are notoriously hard to resolve, especially since they rely so much on hearsay. Earlier this week, in Livingston, LA, a man was arrested for shooting a neighbor’s dog. He says it was self-defense, but the dog’s owner says it was revenge for a feud.
Often the situation only ends when one party moves away, but for both of these cases, it will likely come down to who’s willing to move first.