JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 62-year-old man found dead Sunday night in a home in the Spring Park area of Jacksonville had conflicts with his neighbors that sparked restraining orders not long after he moved in, News4Jax has learned.
Court records show that four neighbors filed for injunctions against Robert Klein in 2011, not long after he moved in with the owner of the house, who died that year. According to police, officers have been to the home on Bridgewater Circle 90 times since 2011. Of those calls, 50 were for disturbances. There was one call for shots fired.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Klein's death was reported around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, and foul play is suspected.
Police questioned Klein's female roommate, but have released her. They are investigating what led up to the incident and how he died.
Neighbor Erik Smith explained to News4Jax why he and other neighbors had taken out restraining orders against Klein.
"We had kind of a spotty past with him. We’ve had restraining orders against him, threatening to kill people around here, so we had to do what we had to do to protect ourselves and get restraining orders on him,” Smith said. “That was about five or six years ago when we did that, and then he kind of calmed down. He’s had erratic behavior here lately.”
Another neighbor, who declined to be named, said Klein threatened to kill her and burn down her house.
“I don’t know how he manifested in his mind that we were a threat to him, but in actuality it was his drinking that made him a threat to the neighborhood,” she said.
She said she filed a restraining order against him and described the house as a transient home, where people were constantly coming and going. She said police were always there.
“We had ambulances there three to four times a month,” she said. “So that’s the reason last night when I woke up, I heard the fire engine and I looked out and thought it was standard operating procedure.”
She said it didn't surprise her to learn what really happened, though.
“It's bad that a life’s taken, but the way they lived with a number of transient people in and out, it was inevitable something was going happen,” she said.
Smith said Klein had a revolving door of women who were in and out all the time.
"It really didn’t surprise me because of history and everything with people and the way he kind of treated people around here and just knowing our past with restraining orders against him. What shocked me was that the house he lives in wasn’t even in his name. The lady that owned the house died about five years ago and it was still in her name too," Smith said.
He added that the neighborhood is usually pretty quiet, so it's scary that something like this would happen.
News4Jax crime analyst Gil Smith said neighbors are put in a tough spot when there's a problem person in the neighborhood.
“There are not a lot of options for neighbors or police. When police are called, they’ll look to see if he violated the law. If there are threats then they’ll file an injunction,” Smith said. “In some cases I’ve had three or four people in the same neighborhood file an injunction on the same person, so when you see that, that’s a clue that person is a problem in the neighborhood.”