Dispute With Neighbors Erupts Into Assault Case

It seemed nearly settled, the messy nine-year dispute over the unkempt house in a wealthy Studio City neighborhood.

Authorities had yielded to neighbors’ complaints that the trash-filled, fire-damaged home on Van Noord Avenue lacked running water or power and was harboring rats. City officials had ordered the cleanup and renovation of the $400,000 residence.

On Tuesday, a volunteer work crew was on the scene to handle the last of the mandated repairs--the hookup of a new electrical system and re-installation of a broken six-foot living-room window.

But the owner of the home wasn’t there to see the work completed. Instead, Leigh White was in a holding cell at the Van Nuys Courthouse to answer charges that she attacked a neighbor woman with a shopping cart in a continuing argument over the condition of the house.

Called Pack Rat

It was the latest incident in a nine-year battle with neighbors who complained that White is a pack rat and her home a health and safety hazard. White’s water and power has purportedly been turned off several times since 1978 for non-payment of her utility bills.

After a 1984 fire, city officials ordered the utilities disconnected until repairs were made to the house. Despite the order, White remained in the house, according to neighbors.

The 52-year-old White, known to some of her neighbors as Leigh Tobin, was arrested Monday on a bench warrant. Authorities said she had failed to show up last week for a hearing on the assault-and-battery charge.

The shopping cart incident occurred May 8, when next-door neighbor Cheryl Shuman reportedly confronted White about carts and trash that had been left in front of Shuman’s house.

“I put the trash in the carts and said, ‘Please keep your shopping carts in your yard, Leigh,’ ” said Shuman, who is 27 and five months pregnant. “I turned around, and she shoved a cart into me and I fell down backwards.”

Shuman called police and White was arrested. But that wasn’t the end of the dispute.

Accused of Pushing Neighbor

A few days later, Shuman said, White accused her of stealing a fence and of placing human waste in the backyard of the damaged home. Then White pushed her and knocked her to the ground, Shuman said.

After that, Shuman obtained a court order to keep White at arm’s length. “I’m afraid to let my dog or my 6-year-old daughter play in the front yard because of what this lady might do,” Shuman said.

On Tuesday, Shuman was in court with her husband, Phil, a television news reporter, to press the assault charge and accuse White of violating the court order.

White was blaming the Shumans and others in the neighborhood for the dispute, however. She suggested after the hearing that they had joined with Los Angeles city officials in harassing her.

“It seems to me like a man who works for a TV station is using his influence in this case,” said Stuart A. Chapman, a county deputy public defender who is White’s lawyer. “I haven’t seen so much weight brought upon a person for nothing.”

Trial Scheduled

Chapman told Municipal Court Commissioner Beverly E. Mosley, who scheduled trial for July 24, that the altercation was a minor dispute between “two ladies who were in some sort of shoving match involving a shopping cart.”

But prosecutor David S. Kestenbaum said Shuman has become “a prisoner in her own home” because of White. “She’s in essence under house arrest. She’s afraid to leave without being assaulted,” Kestenbaum said.

Phil Shuman denied that he has used his television job to exert pressure against White.

“I’m not one who thinks that everybody should have a Beverly Hills-like manicured lawn,” he said. “It would be one thing if the mess at that house just happened. But it’s been going on for 10 years. If this woman lived next door to a city official, it wouldn’t haven’t gone on for one month.”

Officials denied Tuesday dragging their feet in ordering the renovations.

Senior Building and Safety Department inspector Ruben Perez said the house was declared substandard in 1985 after the fire scorched its living room and caused smoke damage elsewhere. In June of 1986, the city ordered it repaired within 180 days or face demolition.

Permits for repairs were finally issued on March 27 to White’s daughter, Lisa White, 25, of San Diego, who is conservator of the house, Perez said.

“May 16 was the deadline, but everything except the living-room window and some electric work was done,” Perez said. “Despite its appearances, the house is structurally sound.”

“We can’t concern ourselves with aesthetics,” concurred Robert Steinbach, head of the city’ building inspection division. “The amount of fire damage was minimal. The repairs haven’t been speedy, but they’ve been steady. It’s been a tragic thing.”

“The neighbors want my mother out of the neighborhood. She feels everybody’s out to get her,” Lisa White said. “She’s never maliciously done things against people. She just doesn’t want to be forced away. She’s lived here 28 years.”

Target of Vandalism

Several teen-agers living on the street said White has been the target of vandalism. They said youths occasionally toss rocks at White’s house when they know she is inside. “She wasn’t bothered for no reason. She called us names and insulted our friends,” said one of them. “One reason people were mean was that she talks about us and says bad things about us.”

Residents of the block said they hope White keeps the house in good repair after it is fixed. Several said past efforts by charity groups have not been successful, however.

“They’ve done a major job to clean it up this time,” said Jeff Jacobs, a 16-year resident of the neighborhood. “But she has a tendency to let things go. “