CINCINNATI -- A man who was fed up with friends who had agreed to build and sell him a house is accused of sawing the home in half lengthwise, police said.
Rodney Rogers, 66, had made an agreement with his friends, the Bowers, to buy a house the Bowers were building, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati reported.
Rogers was living in the home while the final renovations were being made, and he said he agreed to pay the Bowers with cash.
After the house was completed, however, the Bowers wouldn't give him the title and would not give him a price for the house, police said.
Rogers, who lost patience with the Bowers, according to his family, sawed the entire house in half, through siding, drywall and windows, police said. He was arrested in connection with threats made against the homebuilders and destruction of property.
"(He's the) nicest guy you ever met -- real good guy. (He) treated me well," Rogers' neighbor Zyndall Russell said.
Rogers then showed police what he had done and told them he was going to "take care of the Bowers."
Police said they found a loaded gun inside Rogers' home and arrested him on vandalism and aggravated menacing charges.
"I think he was just trying to throw that out there and maybe use some scare tactics to see if anything would get accomplished that way," Rogers' nephew, Mark Rogers, said. "He's just worked his butt off his whole life, and he's got nothing to show for it, and this home was his pride and joy up there. So I just want him to get out and enjoy the rest of his life."
Mark Rogers said Rodney Rogers is a diabetic and suffers from carbon monoxide poisoning to the degree that he was told he would not live past last August.
Mark Rogers said that he believes what Rodney Rogers did was wrong, but he said he deserves what he paid for.
The Bowers said they would have sold the title to Rodney Rogers, but he never offered money to buy it.
He is scheduled to be back in court Thursday.
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