HILLSBORO, Ohio – A man accused of using a power saw to slice his home to protest the owner's refusal to sell it to him has given new meaning to the term split-level.
Rodney Rogers, 66, of Greenfield, is charged with vandalism and aggravated menacing. He's due in Hillsboro Municipal Court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
Highland County Sheriff Ronald Ward said Wednesday that Rogers apparently thought an acquaintance was going to build a house and sell it to him, and he was living in it while it was being completed.
But then the friend refused to complete the sale, Rogers told deputies, so he took a saw last week and made a lateral cut in the walls and siding about chest high.
He cut all the way around the house, Ward said.
So what's keeping the top of the house on top of the bottom?
"Gravity," Ward said.
The owners have not put a dollar value on the damage, Ward said.
Rogers remained free Wednesday pending his court appearance, when a judge could impose a bond, Ward said.
Hillsboro is about 50 miles east of Cincinnati.
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