A quiet Chesapeake neighborhood, a rare hate crime charge

CHESAPEAKE

Malencie Ballard arrived home one day in the spring to find a statue of black Sambo planted in the yard of her next-door neighbors, the Young family.

The two families had argued over kicked balls, loud parties and litter during the eight years they’ve lived side by side on Aguila Drive in the city’s prim Las Gaviotas neighborhood.

The statue, painted black with white eyes and lips and with a watermelon in hand, angered and offended Ballard.

“I dreaded going home,” she said.

The dispute in the golf-course community escalated. On June 21, police charged father and son Dan and Anthony Young with felony hate crimes, accusing them of going on a baseball-bat wielding rampage on Ballard’s property. Ballard is black, and the Youngs are white.

Such charges are rarely brought by Chesapeake prosecutors, according to FBI statistics. The city had 45 reported hate crimes between 2002 and 2007, with a peak of 12 in 2004. The state defines a hate crime as a criminal act intended to intimidate a victim because of race, religion or ethnic origin.

Messages left with the Youngs at their house and work were not returned. Anthony’s attorney , Hugh E. Black III, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Reached at work, a man who identified himself as Dan Young’s brother, Robert, said “there’s definitely two sides to this story.” He declined to elaborate.

Malencie Ballard, who owns M&M Greek & Embroidery shop in Norfolk, said she moved into Las Gaviotas in early 2002.

The 900-home community off Cedar Road is nestled between golf courses and set along ponds and shallow waterways.

Neighbors in the suburban community include Mayor Alan Krasnoff and a state Supreme Court justice .

Ballard said she bought a two-story, two-car garage home across the street from the Chesapeake Golf Club.

The Youngs had moved in a few months earlier, Ballard said.

The families were pleasant to each other but never close. The Youngs have a school-aged child; Ballard’s adult daughter lived with her. She said she does not like balls thrown into her yard or the boisterous games the neighborhood boys play that often spilled into her yard.

“I don’t want other people to damage my things.” she said. She added that she can sometimes be cranky.

After one rowdy and unsupervised boys basketball game, Ballard said, she and her neighbor got into an argument.

A few days later, the Sambo statue appeared, pointing at Ballard’s home office, she said. More stone figurines, their faces painted black, showed up in the Youngs’ front yard, she said.

T he neighbors stopped talking.

On June 21, Father’s Day, the Young s held a family gathering at their home.

Ballard called police to complain about the noise. Police came, and the Youngs turned down their music. Dan Young “was openly belligerent” to the officer, according to court records.

When police left, Dan Young, 53, and Anthony, 27, grabbed baseball bats and stomped into Ballard’s yard, and they yelled obscenities and racial epithets at their neighbor’s house, court records say. The men slugged the trees and shrubs, according to prosecutors.

Ballard locked her family inside and called police again.

The Youngs each face two felony counts of committing a hate crime and trespassing. The men rejected a plea agreement and were indicted by a grand jury in September.

They have a court hearing next week, but a trial date has not been scheduled.

Ballard said she does not want to move. “All I want is some peace,” she said.

Next door at the Youngs’, the statues have disappeared. A “For Sale” sign is planted in the front yard.

Louis Hansen, (757) 222-5221, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com