Man alleged to have chopped neighbor’s fence down with ax, attempted break-in

A Bakersfield-area man accused of chopping down his neighbor’s fence with an ax during an ongoing property dispute has been released on supervised bond. Jeffrey Kaufman, 61, faces a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon along with two misdemeanor charges of property damage and harassment following the Sept. 14 incident.

According to information shared in the dispatch report and probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Deputy Josh Sherman, a woman on V Highway in the Bakersfield area called the Ozark County Sheriff’s dispatch line at 9:23 a.m. Sept. 14 to report that her neighbor, Kaufman, had come onto her property with an ax and began chopping down a fence, claiming that it was on his property.

Sherman noted that the incident was part of an ongoing civil dispute between the woman and Kaufman which has continued to escalate over several months, despite efforts by the pair’s respective attorneys to settle the matter. 

The officer went to the woman’s home, where she showed him video footage of the incident that was taken by family members, the report says. 

“The video clearly showed Mr. Kaufman stating he was taking down the fence because it belonged to him. I inspected the damaged fence, which bordered most of the [victim’s] residence, and, according to [the victim] and her husband, had been in place for a long time,” Sherman wrote. “Several barbed wire lines tied to the fence were cut and in need of repair. [The victim], who was outside with her two-year-old granddaughter at the time, expressed fear for their safety, noting that Mr. Kaufman was waving the ax in a manner that made her worry about further escalation.” The woman told Sherman she wanted to pursue charges. 

The officer left the woman’s house to go to Kaufman’s nearby residence to speak with him about the incident. 

“During our brief conversation, he admitted to using his ax to cut down the fence, asserting it was on his property and part of his driveway,” the report says. 

Sherman said the incident follows a pattern of disruptive behavior by Kaufman toward the [victim’s] family, as the sheriff’s department had been called about the escalating tension between the two on July 21, Aug. 5, Aug. 15, Aug. 19, Aug. 23, Aug. 25 and Aug. 26. 

“These incident involved actions like cutting fences and tampering with water supply, despite ongoing legal action, suggesting intentional effort to cause emotion distress without justifiable cause,” the report says. 

Another case from May

Kaufman is also accused of breaking through a woman’s door while her 10-year-old granddaughter was inside the home, which has led to another case filed against him for two misdemeanors charges of trespassing and property damage from a May incident at a home across from the Bakersfield Dollar General.

According to the probable cause statement in that case, prepared by Lt. Matthew Rhoades, the officer responded to the Bakersfield Dollar General to speak with a woman who reported that someone had attempted to break into her home, located just across the street from the Dollar General store in Bakersfield, where she works. 

The woman told the officer that her 10-year-old granddaughter, who was at  home at the time, called her and said that a man tore through the weather-proofing sheet on the door, pushed the door open and stuck his head inside. The girl said she watched him do it, as she was sitting on the couch, in view of the door. The girl told her grandma that the man said “something about being sorry and not realizing anyone lived in the house” before he left. The girl said she watched the man walk across the street and into the Dollar General store afterward, and she later identified him on the store’s security footage. The grandmother also reviewed the footage and identified the man as Jeffrey Kaufman. 

The officer also reviewed the security video and confirmed the man was Kaufman and that he immediately entered the store after the incident, which was consistent with the granddaughter’s account, the report says.

After speaking with the woman, the officer went to the woman’s house where he spoke with the granddaughter. The girl recounted the details of the incident, and Rhoades recorded them in a victim’s statement. The officers noted that the door was broken off its hinges on the side and appeared to have been forced open on the doorknob side. A coffee table in the living room was being used to secure the door closed, he wrote. 

The statement says that “no additional crimes were committed” as Kaufman hadn’t entered the home. The victims desired prosecution. 

Rhoades said he attempted to locate Kaufman, but he was unable to find him at the time of the investigation. 

Kaufman faces two misdemeanor charges of trespassing and property damage in connection with that incident. He’s scheduled to appear in Ozark County Court in both cases at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18, before Associate Judge Raymond Gross.