A Fox Point man took matters into his own hands and physically assaulted a process server when he attempted to serve the man some documents.
According to the report:
received a call about a fight taking place in the 8500 block of North Indian Creek Parkway just before 7 p.m. on May 7.
The victim, a 62-year-old process server from Grafton, met police in the driveway. Officers noted in their report the Grafton man's jeans were torn, his long-sleeved shirt was ripped, buttons were missing, dirt was on his shoulder, both hands were bleeding from minor lacerations and his lower lip was bleeding.
He told police he was attempting to serve documents to the homeowner when the 60-year-old man came outside questioning the process server. After the server finished the paperwork, the homeowner said he wouldn't sign anything. The process server said that was fine and attempted to hand the papers to the owner. He wouldn't take them, so he laid them on the front steps and tried to leave.
As the process server walked toward the driveway, the homeowner blocked his path and asked if he was going to push him out of the way, which the server declined. The homeowner then accused the server of trespassing on his property and grabbed him by the neck, pinned him against the garage door, kneed him in the groin and punched him in the mouth with a closed fist. The process server attempted to walk away and the homeowner pushed him back to the ground.
Police spoke to the homeowner as well, who told officers the server had come onto the property and agitated him. While speaking with the homeowner, police noticed the smell of alcohol on the man's breath. He was issued a municipal citation for battery.
If the process server did their job properly and followed the law, then I feel sorry for them getting beat up. However, I have been a journalist for almost 10 years, and once time I heard about a shady process server (an ex-Marinette County Sheriffs Deputy) through a contact who lives north of Crivitz off US 141 that did not follow proper procedure and give due respect to the property owner. The first time they served papers without saying who they were, what the matter was about and get a signature. Instead they threw the papers on the ground and ran away to their vehicle and when leaving..cussed at the property owner on the way out...and said "I am going to get you...and your going to jail." The second time they came by they parked somewhere behind the owners property, and walked up to the house and slid the paperwork down a crack between the house and porch without knocking. So, what i am saying is that most process servers may be all right, there are others that are shady.
Posted by Jess Lala of http://www.subpoenadelivery.com/