Man Threatens to Cut Neighbor’s Head Off With Shovel, Police Say

responded to a disturbance call of a man using profanity and swinging a shovel in a parking lot around 5:30 p.m. Aug. 31, reports said.

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When officers arrived, a witness pointed around the corner to a home in the 4900 block of West Columbus Drive reports said. Police walked down the driveway where met a man identified as Joseph Blatt, 32, standing outside.

The caller, a 51-year-old man, said he and other neighbors were in the back yard when Blatt approached their group, police said.

According to the report, Blatt has a history of being rude and obnoxious toward his neighbors, especially when drinking alcohol, which he had been doing.

Several neighbors asked Blatt to leave and go home. The caller told Blatt he was neither wanted nor welcome, and that he should go back to his own house, police said.

Police said Blatt went back home and began playing music loudly in the parking lot while continuing to drink. He allegedly took a shovel out of his garage and walked back to the back of the apartment building where the neighbors were gathered, swinging the shovel wildly.

Neighbors told police that Blatt was yelling obscenities and walked toward the caller, threatening to cut his head off, reports said.

Blatt allegedly began to swing the shovel around his head until he let go and it traveled through the air, landing in the parking lot. Police said Blatt knowingly threatened others with profanity and “displayed violent outbursts with a shovel in an unreasonable manner.”

Police advised the caller to get a court order of protection.

Blatt was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct. He has a Sept. 28 court date in Bridgeview.

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