Why did this particular episode go viral when it was only one of ten previous complaints that were reported in police records since 2016?
The video, which was posted to YouTube, shows a man, identified as Bill Jaffa, coming toward Elaine Norton, who is holding the camera, according to ABC 15.
HOLD ON: Elaine Norton was ready and just happened to be holding a camera?
The video just kind of blew up this past weekend when the video only had 3,000 views but as of August 16, the video has over 87,000 views.
HOLD ON: Elaine Norton was ready and just happened to be holding a camera?
What's in the mix that was reported:
1 A former city councilman in Arizona was caught on camera verbally harassing a hiker for trespassing — on a city-owned trail near his house.
2 The woman who took the video, Elaine Norton, said that other hikers warned her about Bill Jaffa, who is building a home near the Hawes Loop Trail in the Las Sendas area of Mesa where she was hiking, saying he’d harassed other hikers numerous times before
3 A police report obtained by New Times late Wednesday reveals that a police officer found Jaffa’s behavior on July 14 toward Elaine Norton, a 57-year-old Navy veteran, “seriously disruptive in nature."
4 In the video, Jaffa dials 911 and tells the dispatcher he feels threatened by Norton, a statement investigators felt was exaggerated and untrue. “Mr. Jaffa tells the 911 call-taker, ‘Please, it’s an emergency’ and also says ‘the woman is very aggressive,’” the report states. “It is clear that Mr. Jaffa is making a false report to law enforcement
5 The officer also recommended a charge of disorderly conduct. As of Thursday, city records didn't show that Jaffa had yet been charged.
6 Jaffa as a history of harassing hikers and mountain bikers who venture too close to his home.
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INTENDED OR NOT: WHAT IS ELAINE NORTON TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IN HER VIDEO??????????????????"I hate to think that his businesses [might be affected] and that this is happening because I am not a mean person,” Norton said. “But he basically brought it on himself by his attitude toward bikers and hikers and his treatment of them.”
Notice these details provided in media reports:
> Norton is a resident of Las Sendas and one of Jaffa’s neighbors. She recalled hearing stories from other community members about their run-ins with Jaffa on the Hawes Loop Trail. So, when she heard shouting through her earbuds, then saw a man running toward her, Norton was not entirely caught off-guard.
> “I had been told by other hikers what he had done to them,” Norton said. “When he jumped over the wall and ran down the hill at me, that’s when I grabbed my phone and started recording.”
> Norton sent the video to her husband, George, who uploaded the video on YouTube for friends and family to see.
According to more details provided by Phoenix New Times: > When video footage of Norton’s encounter with Jaffa surfaced online, Las Sendas residents reached out to the New Times to report their own negative experiences with their neighbor._________________________________________________________________________
The San Luis Obispo Tribune-Aug 16, 2018
Jaffa is a former Mesa city councilman, according to 12 News. ... A statement from the City of Mesa given to both CBS 5 and 12 News says the city re-routed a ...
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Phoenix New Times-Aug 16, 2018
Since 2016, former Mesa City Councilman William “Bill” Jaffa has called police 10 times on Hawes Trail users he accused of "trespassing" on his Las Sendas ...
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