Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

Can I sue a person for falsely accusing me of a crime ? I live on a property with two rentals, unfortunately the owner passed away and there is no landlord. My neighbor wants the property to himself and has gone to great lengths to harass and attempt to have me arrested. He's called everyone from the Police, child services, building superintendent , to the fire department with various unfounded complaints.
Yesterday he started of with another of his almost daily harassing emails which I didn't respond to. Later that morning I put up a gate to block an enclosed area of my yard so that my dog could use the area to play and roam without a leash. When he saw it he started screaming and went inside to call the police and send me several threatening emails saying that I stole the gate from him and the police were coming to arrest me. He has a gate at his house that is 3' high and he said that I took it. He came over to my place to take the gate from me so I went out to confront him. After accusing me several more times of stealing it from him I explained that it was my gate that I pulled from my garage. He called me a liar and said it was his gate . He said "my gate is missing" as he pointed to it. I said, "no, it's still right there, you left your gate open". He confined to deny it so I walked over and closed his gate to prove it to him. At that point he accused me of stealing it from another place and I pointed that gate out as well. This is just one example of many more that I've faced over the past few months. He does have mental issues and takes several drugs and is a heavy pot smoker. He's often delusional and proven wrong but continues with a different problem.
My life has become miserable because of this guy, I try and ignore him but when there are constantly knocks from authorities at my door for false accusations its hard to. He's done more to make me miserable like block my computer from the properties Internet and such, I've saved his threatening and accusing emails from him. What if anything can I do to stop him and protect myself? I'm much bigger and stronger than he but know that I would only give him what he wants were I to physically engage him.

Asked on 3/06/13, 6:19 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Charles Perry Law Offices of Charles R. Perry

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You have really only three solutions. One is to try to obtain a restraining order against this person. The second is to move. The third is to track down who is taking care of the owner's estate and complain about this problem to see if this person can be evicted.

Answered on 3/07/13, 1:47 am

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