DRUMMONDS, Tenn. – Tennessee authorities are investigating a dispute between neighbors that led one man to take heavy machinery to his neighbor's home and destroy it.
Tipton County deputies started receiving calls from that area on Friday regarding a neighbor that had fired multiple shots into the woods.
Deputies talked to the neighbor, John Higdon, 48, who said there were multiple people hiding in and running from the woods that were wearing "ghillie" suits. Higdon told deputies he fired the shots into the woods at the people wearing the "ghillie" suits.
A ghillie suit is a type of camouflage clothing that is made to blend in with the background environment such as trees, sand, or snow.
Deputies checked the area and found no evidence of anyone in the woods.
After leaving, a second complaint was filed regarding shots being fired. Deputies returned and arrested Higdon for reckless endangerment.
The incident followed earlier reports in the week from Higdon who told deputies that approximately five people were shining lights into his residence and he believed it was his neighbor's employees.
The next day, after the incidents of firing shots into the woods and after Higdon had been arrested, a neighbor called the Sheriff's Office and said they could see and hear a large piece of orange equipment bulldozing down their neighbor's home.
Deputies went to the area and found the home, belonging to Higdon, had been destroyed.
The neighbor, 57-year-old Edgar Dallas McLellan, was arrested for aggravated criminal trespassing and felony vandalism.
Sammy Higdon, John's brother, said he doesn't know why McLellan would want to do something like that to his brother. He said the two were not fighting, despite what deputies said.
Sammy is not forced to live in a camper next to where his home once stood.
Both of them are free on bond and are awaiting their court date. Detectives are continuing to investigate and expect additional charges to be filed, according to the sheriff.