Judge's decision indicates Tanglewood Lakes roads are public roads and subject to maintenance and traffic enforcement by Linn County
By Charlene Sims, info@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – Felony charges have been dismissed against 15 residents of Tanglewood Lakes in connection with damage done to the lake development’s electronic gates after the development’s property owners association denied them road access to their homes, for some as many as five years.
After two years of attending court cases, paying for attorneys and bond, missing work and unlawfully being denied access to the gates by members of the Tanglewood Lake Owners’ Association (TLOA), the most serious charges against that group were dropped. However, they still face misdemeanor charges against them for rioting.
On Monday, March 10, District Court Judge Andrea Purvis, dismissed the remaining felonies of people who had insisted that they had the right to use the roads to access their homes. On Dec. 20, 2024, Purvis had ordered a permanent injunction preventing the TLOA from restricting access for property owners at the lake community.
Purvis based the injunction decision on the tenant bill of rights and case law. She ruled that the TLOA had other legal means to enforce regulations at that community rather than denying homeowners access to their property. The injunction still left 19 people with two felonies and a misdemeanor each.
Originally 23 people were charged with felonies related to gate removal, criminal damage and criminal conspiracy resulting from an incident on May 18, 2023. Four of those people were dropped from that list after accepting plea deals leaving 19 defendants last week. Four of those 19 took the court’s offer of paying $500 restitution to have their felonies removed but in doing so they admitted guilt to the damage and conspiracy.
The ones who paid restitution will also have to pay to have their records expunged of the felonies and will have to wait three years. The people who had their felonies dismissed will not have to pay to have theirs expunged and can do it immediately.
The remaining 15 went to court last week to prepare for their felony jury trials on Thursday, March 6. The group’s attorney, John Ivan, had filed a motion to dismiss for the Eva Riojas-Mackey case on Feb. 27 but it was not considered until March 6, and the order of the defendants appearances for jury trial was changed. Riojas-Mackey’s case was moved to be one of the first trials.
According to Riojas-Mackey, the judge told the County Attorney Justin Meeks, that he had three days to do research to determine whether the roads in Tanglewood were public roads.
At the March 10 hearing, Purvis dismissed the felony charges for criminal damage and criminal conspiracy. She told Meeks that it was up to him to decide whether he wanted to continue to prosecute the rioting charges, a misdemeanor.
The motion to dismiss Riojas-Mackey included three points. First was the violation of a defendant’s right to a speedy trial.
Second was the “Defense of Abatement.” This point argued that the points against Riojas are exempt from criminal prosecution under the doctrine of abatement. This argues that the defendant’s charges should be dismissed because the charges were brought against her for taking down obstacles that impeded travel on public roads. A person has the right to remove the obstruction on a public road if the government fails to do so. Purvis acknowledged that the roads at Tanglewood Lakes were public roads.
The third point was insufficient evidence as a matter of law. The unexpected death of former TLOA president Tate West late last year left the prosecution with no witnesses willing or able to testify.
Purvis granted the dismissal of the two felonies that Riojas-Mackey was charged with on the second point “Defense of Abatement.” By determining that the roads were public roads, Riojas-Mackey had the right to remove the obstruction (gates) that did not allow her to enter or exit her residence.
Abatement, the act of removing obstructions or nuisance from private property can only be done by the government and is usually applied to the owner’s taxes. But abatement on public property, the removal of obstructions, can be done by individuals.
In an interview with Riojas-Mackey, she pointed out that since 2019, she had contacted 48 different government agencies to seek help with the residents that were being locked out of their homes. This includes being on the agenda at the Linn County Commission meeting and also talking with former county attorney Burton Harding.
The decision of the county commissioners was that the roads belonged to Tanglewood Lakes and the county was not responsible for taking care of them or the gate issue.
On Dec. 27, 2021, a civil lawsuit filed by Chuck and Sherri Toynbee and others was heard in the Linn County District Court. The suit sought a temporary injunction against the TLOA so they could not take away homeowners gate access cards and also that the court appoint a special master to manage the TLOA until the gate issue was settled.
Riojas-Mackey noted that it took nearly two years for that temporary injunction to be put into place. The temporary injunction was granted in October 2023, telling the TLOA that homeowners should be given their gate cards. But the permanent injunction did not happen until Dec. 20, 2024, nearly three years after the civil lawsuit was filed.
During that time period, residents who had been locked out or in, or both, of Tanglewood Lakes did take matters into their own hands, taking down obstructions on the public roads. That 2021 request stated that the roads were public not private.
Riojas-Mackey and Allyn Mackey both had a third felony charge against them for interference with a law enforcement officer. According to Riojas, a law enforcement officer tried to grab Mackey’s concrete saw as it was running during the incident on May 18, 2023, and she stepped between the officer and Mackey to prevent any injuries. These third felonies for Riojas and Mackey were changed to misdemeanors with the judge’s ruling on March 10.
Meeks is expected to decide by March 21 if the prosecutor’s office wants to continue with the misdemeanor rioting charges.
The judge’s ruling not only dismissed the felonies for the Tanglewood residents but indicates that Linn County is responsible for the maintenance of the roads in the Tanglewood development. In addition to road maintenance, the county also may be responsible for law enforcement on those roads also.
According to Riojas-Mackey, the judge noted that once roads have been dedicated to the public and accepted by the commissioners – which occurred when the commission accepted the final plat map when Tanglewood was created – that property can never revert back to private again.
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