Robert Schapiro had no idea what he was getting himself into when he went to watch a friend?s son play football at Baltimore Lutheran School earlier this month.
Schapiro parked his truck on Concordia Drive in the Chatterleigh neighborhood of Baltimore County, partially blocking a driveway.
Little did he know the community?s homeowners and the school are waging a bitter war over the rented athletic fields, which residents say draws traffic from all over the region to their otherwise quiet street. The homeowner called 911, and Schapiro ended up cuffed ? arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. “I had nothing to do with this conflict,” Schapiro said. “I just wanted to see a football game.”
Schapiro ? who witnesses and police contend threatened the homeowner and refused to move his car ? is the latest example of red-hot tensions over the athletic fields and a massive tent the residents call an eyesore.
Earlier this year, Craig Kenney, who was taking photos during a resident-organized protest, was arrested for trespassing on the school?s property. The case was dismissed when he proved a 13-foot space between the curb and school is county-owned. On Sunday, residents again protested during the school?s open house in the same spot Kenney was arrested.
“We?re vulnerable when they rent fields to outsiders,” resident Ann Ward said. “On Friday, people were parked facing the wrong direction, in front of driveways, it was just a mess.”
The school?s headmaster, Randy Gast, did not return phone calls by press time. In previous interviews, he has said the school is trying to compromise with the community.
He has said the school needs the space to accommodate a 200-student increase over two years.
