An old man confronts and interrogates me in an accusatory tone because I visited our neighborhood park every day during my lunch breaks for awhile and he didn't like that. He proceeds to lie and fabricate a false story about how the police are "onto" me, how the neighbors supposedly have been "tracking" me, that this park is a "hotbed" for crime, etc, for which all of his claims were subsequently proven false. The man seemed paranoid and a bit crazy.

I called the police department and reported the incident and asked if anything the old man claimed was true. The officer I spoke to was very friendly and a very good listener. He told me that the old man had no business confronting me, debunked what the old man said, confirmed that he was lying and that if he continues to interrogate me, that I can file a harassment complaint. I felt no need to pursue harassment charges because this was nothing more than a slight nuisance to me. I was also told that the department has gotten other complaints about him over the years for similar behavior.

UPDATE: He never approached me or bothered me again, since the day the officer went to his residence and warned him to stop harassing people. After this video went viral in town, I got a phone call from the mayor one evening who told me that the old man was out of line and that this is not the kind of experience the city wants for its residents and wished me luck in not having another interaction like this with anyone again. I also started hearing from other citizens in our community that reported having been harassed by the same man and spoken to as if they were bad people.

Folks, ALWAYS have a camera ready to record every strange interaction you might have with a busybody. This is unfortunately the world we live in now, where people will confront others over absolutely nothing. And recording these interactions will help protect you from false accusations. Don't be shy about reporting such occurrences to your local law enforcement.

Update video:    • Confronted and Accused In a Park By a...