PALM BAY, Fla. – A Palm Bay man faces charges after police said he used his pickup truck in a fit of revenge to rip up the front yard of a person who repeatedly posted negative reviews about his wife's animal clinic business.
Joshua Ryan Fields, 35, was charged with criminal mischief after Palm Bay police were called out last Tuesday to the 2300 block of Jaremko Avenue to investigate reports of a person rolling into a yard at night in a black Ford truck and spinning out large ruts through the grass. Police estimated the damage to the yard from the late night incident to be at least $300, records show.
Fields was taken into custody for questioning and later released with an Aug. 22 court date.
66-year-old Donna Padula told police she was home sleeping when she was awakened by bright light shining through her windows. She then looked outside and saw the pickup rev up its engines and then spin its rear tires in her grass.
"When I looked out the window, I saw the truck doing this to the yard," said Padula, surveying the damage.
The truck’s driver repeated the action several times, rolling in and out of the yard. She told officers that she had posted two negative Facebook comments about Wag N Tails Animal Clinic and thought that yard incident might be connected, reports show.
"It's very bizarre. The whole thing is bizarre," said Padula.
Two-years-ago, Padula says her 12-year-old cat Rudy was having seizures so she took him to Wag N Tails.
She says Rudy was dead within 48 hours.
Padula says he did not get the right care and was put to sleep without her consent.
She alleges with gas.
"I wish I had never gone there," said Padula. "It was the biggest nightmare of my life."
Wag N Tails did not give us News 6 a response to those allegations Monday.
Neither did Fields who officers located at his Palm Bay home and determined he was the owner of the pickup truck and the husband of the animal clinic owner. After initially denying the woman’s claim and telling officers to “get…out of my house,” he was arrested, records show.
He then told officers that, acting on his own, he sought revenge against the victim because she posted several negative reviews about his wife’s animal clinic, reports show. He then admitted that he was wrong, reports show.
Getting results for herself, Padula says she'll now install home surveillance cameras just in case the driver decides to come back.