By C1 Staff
GRAND PRARIE, Texas — After 20 years, a man is finally behind bars for allowing the grass to grow wild in his yard.
The Chronicle reports that Rick Yoes has ignored city orders and fines requiring him to trim his yard, and now he’s turned himself in to do time for the $1,700 in fines he’s incurred.
Police have visited Yoes’ home 32 times since 1996, issued 59 violations and six citations for his overgrown lawn. Citations are issued when grass and weeds exceed 12 inches and trees or shrubs obstruct sidewalks or streets.
“The complaints from our neighbors to the city and our attempts to work with him have been generated from his neighbors in an effort to protect their neighborhood integrity and property values,” a city official said in a statement.
Yoes’ violations include “overhanging tree limbs,” “dilapidated wood fence,” “high grass,” “inoperable vehicle,” “junk in yard,” and “swimming pool not maintained.”
Yoes took vacation days and found a replacement for his work as campus electrician at Tarrant County College so he could serve his 17-day sentence instead of paying the fines, according to his daughter.
Yoes is described as an eccentric man who displayed his seashell collection on campus and once dressed in 1776-style garb and wig to read the Constitution to students.
“We all agree it is unfortunate that exhaustive measures to work with this citizen during each step of the process have failed,” city officials said. “But every city has a responsibility to watch over the best interests of everyone in the neighborhood to retain a high quality of life for all in the community.”