Fla. jury awards man's neighbors $1.6 million

Jury says SW Fla. man was a bully; awards $1.6 million to 5 neighbors for his taunts

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Published On: Nov 21 2012 02:32:36 PM EST

GOODLAND, Fla. (AP) — A southwest Florida jury awarded $1.65 million to neighbors of a man accused of taunting the neighborhood.

Following a two-day trial last week, the Collier County jury agreed that 52-year-old Richard "Blinkie" Karnes had inflicted emotional distress and assaults and batteries on the five neighbors who sued him.

The Naples Daily News reports neighbors had obtained restraining orders to keep Karnes from harassing them. They say he antagonized children, cursed at them and threatened to toss them into a canal.

Jurors awarded $1.1 million to Anna and Leo Popour, both 74. According to the newspaper, Karnes once sprayed Leo Popour with a chemical and threatened "to do something bad to his home."

Karnes told the newspaper he denied the allegations in his answer to the lawsuit, filed in 2007.

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