My blood boiled. I immediately tapped the microphone icon on my camera app to use the two-way audio feature. My voice boomed from the hidden speakers around the pool: "BRENDA. YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. PACK YOUR THINGS AND LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, OR I AM CALLING THE POLICE."
On the video feed, the other three women jumped in terror. Brenda, however, just looked around, spotted one of the cameras, and flipped it the bird. "Nice try!" she yelled back at the camera. "I checked the HOA charter! This is an unauthorized structure! That means it defaults to community property! We're not leaving until we cool off!" She then literally did a cannonball into my pool.
I didn't hesitate. I dialed 911, informed the dispatcher that a group of people had broken my lock and were trespassing on my property, and that I had it all on live video. The dispatcher promised to send a squad car immediately. I rushed to my car and began the drive home, keeping the live feed open on my dashboard mount.
But Brenda had her own devious plan. As I later found out, about ten minutes after she broke in, she decided to call 911 herself to establish a paper trail as the "victim." She told the dispatcher a frantic story: she claimed she and her kids were at the "community pool" and that a deranged, threatening neighbor was harassing them through hidden speakers and making them feel unsafe.
I pulled onto my street just in time to see two police cruisers blocking my driveway. I parked on the curb and ran toward my house. Brenda was standing in my front yard, wrapped in a towel, performing a masterclass in fake crying. She was pointing at my house, surrounded by her friends who were nodding along to her fabricated story.
"Officers, thank god you're here!" Brenda wailed. "That's him! That's the man! He locked the gate to the community pool to keep the neighborhood children out, and when we finally got in, he started screaming at us and threatening my kids!"