“No.”
“Then I'm calling the police.”
“Call them.”
“I already did.”
For the first time, Linda looked nervous.
And six minutes later, a patrol SUV turned onto Willow Crest Drive.
Officer David Mills stepped from the driver's side.
Officer Tasha Green followed.
Both immediately saw Linda.
Then the bolt cutters.
Then the open utility box.
Mills approached.
“Who owns those?”
Linda raised them slightly.
“I do.”
“And the cable?”
Linda hesitated.
Jamal answered.
“My internet provider.”
Linda interrupted.
“The HOA has jurisdiction over visible exterior modifications.”
Officer Green looked at Jamal.
“Did she cut anything?”
“My connection dropped while she was standing here.”
“Coincidence,” Linda said.
Jamal held up his phone.
“My cameras caught everything.”
Mills looked at Linda.
“You opened the utility box?”
“I inspected a violation.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Linda's mouth tightened.
Officer Green crouched beside the box.
She examined the cable.
The outer protective coating had a fresh indentation.
The cutters had already damaged it.
Green looked up.
“This looks fresh.”
Linda crossed her arms.
“I was preventing continued noncompliance.”
Mills stared at her.
“You damaged the cable?”
“I was enforcing HOA standards.”
“That sounds like yes.”
Linda's face flushed.
Jamal said nothing.
He didn't need to.
Green asked to see the video.
Jamal played it.
The recording showed Linda entering his yard.
She looked toward the street.
Opened the utility enclosure.
Removed the bolt cutters from her SUV.
Placed them around the cable.
The connection dropped.
The camera switched automatically to backup mode.
When the footage ended, nobody spoke.
Linda finally said, “There are circumstances you're not understanding.”
Mills folded his arms.
“Then explain them.”
“The cable is unauthorized.”
Jamal opened an email on his phone.
“This is from the internet provider.”
Then another.
“City approval.”
Mills read both.
His expression changed.
“It says the installation is permitted within the utility easement.”
Linda shook her head.
“That doesn't supersede community standards.”
Officer Green looked at her.
“Community standards don't normally authorize property damage.”
Linda laughed nervously.
“Property damage? This is ridiculous.”
Jamal looked at Green.
“She also threatened to have me removed from my own neighborhood.”