Thursday, 20th August 2o2o
Two white suspects arrested following racial harassment allegations
by Bill Hutchinson
When numerous complaints made to police failed to stop the alleged harassment from several of her white neighbors, Jennifer McLeggan, a single Black mother, posted a large handwritten sign on the front door of her New York residence informing the community "I live in FEAR for my life at home."
McLeggan, a registered nurse, listed on the sign a litany of allegations against her neighbors, including dropping dog feces on her property in the Long Island town of Valley Stream and shooting a pellet gun across her yard in a dangerous way at a nearby sign.
The three years of alleged harassment culminated on Monday with the arrests of two of her neighbors, John McEneaney, 57, and his live-in girlfriend, Mindy Canarick, 53.
"The last straw was the dead squirrels for me," McLeggan, 39, told ABC News of the rodents she said she found in her yard and accused McEneaney of placing them there.
"I think enough was enough at that point. That to me was a sign -- you meant me harm."
Up until that point, McLeggan "suffered in silence," one of her attorneys, Heather Palmore, told ABC News.
"She thought that they were really going to do something to her. So, she posted the sign on her door and that's really what caused this whole thing to go viral," Palmore said.
McLeggan said she put the sign up at her home out of fear for her life.
"I put [up] the sign in case something would happen and ... someone would see there’s a baby inside and kind of, at least, call my mom to pick up the baby," said McLeggan, who wrote on the sign,
"My name is Jennifer and I am a single mom and Registered Nurse."
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said she immediately launched an investigation into McLeggan's complaints once she was informed of the sign posted on her home in early July.
"I was heartbroken when I saw the sign on Ms. McLeggan's door," Singas said in a video statement announcing the arrests of McEneaney and Canarick.
"Nassau County is a very safe place to live and no one should feel threatened in their own home. I hope that [McLeggan] and her daughter can sleep better tonight knowing that we have her back and that those who harass their neighbors will be held to account for their actions."
Singas said that while investigators from her office did not find evidence to support a hate crime, the alleged conduct of McEneaney and Canarick "crossed the line between being a bad neighbor and into the realm of criminality."
McEneaney was charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree and harassment in the first degree, both misdemeanors. Canarick was charged with criminal tampering in the third degree, also a misdemeanor.
The couple was released following an arraignment at the Hempstead District Court.
Singas said that in an attempt to "prevent future contact and harassment," Judge Erica L. Prager granted a request from her office for an order of protection against the suspects.
But McLeggan told ABC News that she feels even less safe for her and her baby knowing the suspects are still living next door.
"I just feel like now they’re more dangerous because now they’ve been arrested," McLeggan said.
Following the arraignment, McEneaney told reporters that the charges against him and Canarick were "absolutely ridiculous."
"When she moved in, I thought, 'This is great, I finally have a neighbor I can talk to, I can help her with things around her house,'" said McEneaney as Canarick stood next to him.
Palmore said that McLeggan, 39, was pregnant with her now 2-year-old daughter when she moved to Valley Stream in 2017 from an apartment she was renting in Queens, New York.
Would You Like To Know More?
https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-long-island-couple-charged-harassment-complaints-black/story?id=72441328
