Because he believed that part of it stood on his land | Facebook/Bangor Daily News, brawn cut the garage in 2020.
Blake Ritter and his mother wanted to sue Brawn and his wife in Piscataquis County Superior Court after the garage incident, and the complaint sought approximately $450,000 in punitive damages, along with $35,000 for removing debris and replacing the garage. The two sides agreed to dismiss the lawsuit after mediation in January 2022, according to court documents cited by the Bangor Daily News . The public report did not establish the terms of any private settlement, and Brawn said that he had not paid anything as a result of the incident.
He had returned to the property with his family in 2012, with the neighboring home and garage belonging to Blake Ritter and his mother. Brawn hired a surveyor in May 2020 to establish the boundary, and believed that the survey placed the line through the middle of the garage. Because he believed that part of it stood on his land, and the disagreement involved neighboring properties on Grove Street, where Brawn lived in the house in which he grew up, brawn cut the garage in 2020.
Brawn had worked in construction and maintained that he had cut the structure precisely along what he believed was the property boundary, and six years later, he told the Bangor Daily News that he would do it again. He then used a Sawzall, which is a reciprocating saw that is commonly used in construction and demolition, to cut through the portion that he believed stood on his property. The remaining half of the garage and the debris were left on the neighboring side, which also prompted the Brawns to install fencing between the properties. The disagreement involved years of tension between the neighbors, interpretations of the property boundary that differed and competing claims over land that had once formed part of a larger family property. The lawsuit ended after mediation
The half-garage has remained a visible feature of the neighborhood long after the legal dispute ended for residents on Grove Street, with one neighbor telling the Bangor Daily News that people had used it as a landmark when giving directions to nearby homes. The property line has been settled, the lawsuit dismissed and the original neighbors have moved away, but the garage, however, has yet to be removed.