Junk on roof: potential neighbor(s) dispute

I’m with steve, how do photos from so far up prove anything. You can’t see any details and they will blame the other neighbor etc. It’s unlikely a moment in time view will show people traversing the roof or any details. Personally, I learned the hard way don’t drain yourself with sleuthing – very hard to prove this sort of thing unless you had a camera up there. But you should do what feels right to you.

Calling the DA, police, DCA etc may get them to admit it because they may cave under pressure and questioning. Police are generally apathetic however. Maybe your precinct is different. I have tried that route and got nowhere with it.

so here is the way this could play out if OP decides to start putting the screws to this guy by bluffing with him:

first, an honest and upright contractor would not do something like this but if one did and you started telling him the detectives want to talk to him; 1. he might know you are bluffing and 2. he might not react much and 3. to keep the peace and be professional, he might not threaten to sue you but just might want this to go away (i would, as a contractor, if i got accused of something i did not do, something like this that could ruin my reputation, i would just want it to go away as fast as possible – i would not want my name mixed up in it and i would not be threatening to sue anyone). if he thinks his team did it, he should really do what it takes to resolve this –

with dishonest people, especially real bottom feeders, if you accuse them and they are guilty they might very well flip out and begin threatening you and disparaging you (more often than not that is how it happens; the guy i mention above shouted at me, calling me an “a**hole” for cont acting the DA’s office and another time someone said “you are a horrible person and i don’t ever want to see you again”; all fine with me). that is their defense mechanism to scare you and make you go away and to me, it is a sign of guilt. they won’t do that with the police, but they will do it with you.

you are at a disadvantage here because you do not know this person and how he responds in different situations and to stress. maybe he blows up all the time when things go wrong or maybe he gets quiet under stress when he has screwed something up; not knowing him and how he looks at you in different situations will make it harder for you to read him and know when to apply pressure and when to pull back.

did you or your roofing contractor take photos of your completed roofing job? or is there a warranty company that is involved on the roof? i would contact your roofer and see if they took photos of the completed job and see if they show the neighbor’s junk on their roof and guess what, home run. a lot of contractors take photos to prove that the job was done correctly if there is an issue later or someone calls to report damage that was obviously don’t later.