Family fears for safety as drivers continue to plow through privacy fence in Highland Park

Being in their own backyard is dangerous

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – A home in Highland Park has become a magnet for out-of-control drivers that keep plowing through a privacy fence.

The fence has been hit more than 10 times, and the latest crash involved two cars, with one going through the fence again.

Local 4 was at Isabella Gaddie’s house in June 2022.

“They used to hit the house, and then I put the privacy fence up, so now they’re tearing up the fence, which they’ve done three times in the past 90 days,” said Gaddie last summer.

“They say, ‘Hey man, they done ran into your fence,’ and then I go back there, and I see the cars in the backyard,” said Gaddie’s son William Dozier.

Gaddie’s Highland Park home sits at the corner of John R Road and the Davison Service Drive.

Tuesday (April 11) afternoon, her fence was hit again.

“I don’t know why they won’t let her put up some type of barricades right there because every time they have an accident, they seem to find our backyard,” Dozier said. “The car ends up in our backward every time.”

Dozier says being in the yard is dangerous.

“They hit my mother last time,” Dozier said.

That incident is still being sorted out.

Meantime, they’re waiting to see if the drivers involved in the crash had insurance as they worry about their insurance company, which has had to foot the bill more than once.

“If you’re in the backyard, doing what you’re doing, you better get out of the backyard because I don’t know what’s going to come through the backyard next,” Dozier said.

If there’s one good thing about all of this, it’s that Gaddie was out of town visiting a relative in Florida.

“I’m glad she wasn’t here because it was a nice day, and she would’ve been in the backyard,” Dozier said.

More: Drivers keep plowing through privacy fence of Highland Park resident


About the Authors:

Pamela Osborne is thrilled to be back home at the station she grew up watching! You can watch her on Local 4 News Sundays and weeknights. Pamela joined the WDIV News Team in February 2022, after working at stations in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.