Phone Book Blockade
Tony Snesko
An attorney called one day and stated that his process server was unable to serve a very elusive defendant and asked if I would make an attempt. He explained that the defendant would avoid service by speeding up the street to his house, open his garage door from a half block away and close the door as the car entered the garage. If there was a car or a person near his house that he did not recognize, he would speed by his house and not return for hours. He lived on the side of a hill and there was a place on the opposite hill several hundred yards away where I could park and see his house clearly.
I remembered that I had about 70 pounds of old phone books stored in a back room in my office. I loaded them in a large box and took them to the defendant’s house while he was at work and placed them in front of his garage door just far enough away to allow the garage door to open. His driveway had a five foot tall brick wall on each side so the box would be hidden from his view until he turned into his driveway.
I then parked on the opposite hill and waited. An hour later, his black Honda sped around the corner and headed up the hill to his house. My car was in high gear as I closed in just in time to see his car jerk to a stop in his driveway as he jumped out and struggled to move the heavy box of phone books. Before he could get back in his car, he was served.