Man Begins 30-Day Jail Term for Failing to Clean Up Yard

A Thousand Oaks resident began serving a 30-day jail sentence Thursday after a judge found that he had repeatedly failed to clear his property of junk accumulated over a decade.

Adolph Leben, regarded by his neighbors on Havenwood Drive as a kindly eccentric, turned himself in to the Ventura County Jail after Municipal Judge John R. Smiley denied his request for a modified sentence in a hearing Wednesday.

Leben, a planner in the aerospace industry, pleaded guilty in April to charges of creating a public nuisance and a fire hazard. He received several chances to clear his front, side and back yards before Smiley sentenced him to jail Aug. 16.

The men’s club of Leben’s church even offered to help him and began clearing his yard. But Leben asked them not to come back because he was afraid that he “wouldn’t have any control of what was going out,” said Edward Krol, a member of St. Paschal Baylon Church in Thousand Oaks.

Nancy Schreiner, the deputy city attorney who prosecuted the case, said a jail term was fair.

“We’ve been dealing with him on this matter for years and years and years, and he’s fully aware he needs to clean up his property,” she said. “I feel he’s been playing with and taking advantage of the system long enough. He’s been given great latitude in the past.”

Neighbors have said they long marveled at Leben’s growing collection of junk and lodged quiet complaints over the years. But they said they never pushed the issue because Leben was quiet, pleasant and frequently offered to help them with chores.

During a hearing Wednesday, Leben claimed that he had cleared his yard and asked the judge to reconsider his sentence. But the city produced photographs and testimony from code enforcement officers that he had only moved debris from the front yard to the back, Schreiner said.

Leben could not be reached for comment and does not have an attorney.