DUANESBURG, N.Y. -- Just down the road and across the street, Norman Torres says he's been trying to get someone to listen.
"When I moved here, I didn't realize there was a dump across the street," he said, "so I went to the town with over a hundred pictures."
He says he's complained about the property on Route 160 for almost a decade. The property owner has been investigated and fined by the DEC both in 2003 and 2007.
"Even the neighbors were up in the trees trying to take pictures," Torres said. "He'd send their dogs after them and everything else. Over 20-something years, this guy has been doing this, and what's taken place? Nothing."
Until Monday night, around 8:30 p.m., another neighbor, Ken Montgomery, had enough. With his friend, Ralph Olson and according to investigators, under the influence of alcohol, the two went to the 72-year-old victim's property with AR-15 weapons to threaten him. Norman says they felt they had no other choice.
According to investigators, at that point, the victim didn't call police.
"He wanted to get out of there," Troop G BCI Captain Robert Patnaude said. "He called his girlfriend to come get him; we don't know if he was going to call us or not."
It wasn't until after a second visit by the two men an hour and a half later that shots were fired and an anonymous 911 call was placed.
"Our belief is that Mr. Olson is the one who poured the gas on the vehicles and lit them on fire, but they're both equally responsible," Patnaude added.
A warrant to search Montgomery and Olson's properties produced four more illegally-obtained handguns. The DEC will look into further claims of illegal dumping on the property, and Norman? Well, he's just happy someone is finally listening.
"They love their families as much as I do," he said, "and you know something? They stood up for their families and I can't blame people for that."