Taylor neighbors dispute over drag racing, loud music

Police say they are investigating what can be done

TAYLOR, Mich. – Tara Elizabeth said she has been frustrated living in her Karin Street home in Taylor ever since her neighbors moved in the house two doors down.

“That’s not something that should be happening on a neighborhood like this. This racing and speeding through is dangerous. It’s at all hours,” she said.

Tara isn’t the only person on the block complaining. Tim McFarland said he hasn’t been able to sleep.

“Pretty much every night, they’ll have lines of cars up here, having parties. It’ll be like 3 a.m. and they’ll be out here yelling and screaming and blasting music so loud. It’s like you can’t really sleep sometimes,” McFarland said.

When Local 4 spoke with 25-year-old Hayley Neelsen, she insisted she wasn’t doing anything wrong and has tried to apologize multiple times.

“I play loud music and I do bonfires and my friends ride dirt bikes and four-wheelers. Is that wrong? Aren’t kids supposed to play outside?” Hayley said.

On one occasion, Tara’s security camera caught a drunk person stumbling on her lawn. When she confronted Hayley about all the ruckus, Tara said she was called a racial slur by one of her friends.

However, Hayley said it was in response to a racial slur towards her.

“She wants to throw them, we’ll throw them back. We don’t care. We’re not racist. We hang out with black, white, purple, green, blue, whatever,” she said.

Taylor Police Chief Blair said the department is aware of the situation and is investigating what can be done. But Tara said that’s not good enough.

“It feels helpless. They’re not listening. They’re not giving us any way out,” she said.

“I pay $1,000 a month by myself. I pay my bills, I bought my truck, so what?” Hayley said.

Because of this incident, Tara said she and her family are exploring the options of selling their home.

You can watch the full report in the video above.

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About the Author:

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.