A man who has blared a train horn, tormenting an L.A. neighborhood for two months, is arrested

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9 hours ago

A quiet Van Nuys neighborhood of manicured lawns, palm trees and single-family homes has been embroiled in a noisy squabble over a train horn that one homeowner has affixed to a tree and used to set off drawn-out blares at irregular intervals.
While the window-rattling blasts over the last two months have drawn complaints and calls to police, they have also garnered concern from Peach Avenue neighbors over the well-being of the homeowner.
The latest chapter in the train horn saga took place Wednesday when Los Angeles police arrested Gary Boyadzhyan, 50, an unemployed car technician, who set off the horn after previously promising to keep it silent. In an interview with The Times, he described the drama as a "cry for help" and alluded to being "wronged" by someone, without elaborating.
"He's a nice guy who is just going through something," a neighbor said about Boyadzhyan, echoing the sentiment of most neighbors.
Boyadzhyan attached his setup, similar to a big-rig or train horn, to a palm tree in his backyard. The horn hangs over his one-story home.
Since June, Boyadzhyan has set off the horn in long belches in the late afternoon or at night, according to neighbors on Peach Avenue, an otherwise quiet residential area.
On Wednesday morning, Los Angeles Police Department officers visited him.
"I didn't know where it was coming from all this time," neighbor Clara Espinoza said about the horn as she walked by Boyadzhyan's home. She watched as three officers marched up to his door.
"Oh, it's Gary's house," Espinoza said with a note of surprise. She's lived in the neighborhood for 24 years and couldn't pinpoint the source of the horn blasts. She had planned to call police and noted that the frequency of the horn had increased in the last few weeks.
"He's a nice enough man and I say hello to him whenever I walk by," she said. "You know this is in the Book of Revelations. The horns. Well, trumpets. But it's like the same thing. It's alarming."
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The officers knocked on his door for several minutes.
"We just want to talk," one of the officers said as a Times reporter watched from the sidewalk.
Boyadzhyan appeared at his door in shorts and a T-shirt. He spoke to the officers for several minutes. After the conversation, Officer Chase Lambert said the call to the residence was over a neighborly dispute. He and other officers declined to elaborate on the dispute.
"We are aware," Lambert said motioning to the property and the horn. "There are things that are being worked on to alleviate the horn issue."
Boyadzhyan answered his door and spoke to a Times reporter about his visit with the LAPD.
"I have an issue with LAPD Van Nuys," he said, referring to the Police Department's local bureau. "I also have a legal case that's ... it's over a person who wronged me and it cost me everything. It cost me my job. Everything."
He did not elaborate about the situation and why he is setting off his horn and other alarms from his property. He added that he's an out-of-work car technician and that the whole situation with the horn is a "cry for help."
"If they were concerned, they could have come over to talk with me," he said about his neighbors. "Instead, I have strangers knocking here, police, reporters."
When asked whether he planned to keep the horn off, he said, "I didn't have any plans to turn it on right now."
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A few hours later, the horn sounded again, according to his neighbors. LAPD officers arrived at the home, handcuffed Boyadzhyan while he was standing on his front lawn and led him to a police vehicle. The LAPD said he was arrested on suspicion of interfering with a peace officer and disturbing the peace, which are both misdemeanors.
Boyadzhyan was booked into a county jail shortly after 9 p.m. and released on his own recognizance about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, according to jail records. He did not respond to requests for comment.
News station ABC7 first reported about the train horn on Peach Avenue.
Espinoza, who lives around the corner from Boyadzhyan, said the horn was loud enough to rattle her windows. Another neighbor, who declined to give their name out of privacy concerns, said Boyadzhyan would set off the horn for 20 to 40 intervals at a time. While they acknowledged that the horn was annoying, they're more worried about Boyadzhyan's well-being.
Boyadzhyan is often seen walking around his property late at night, sometimes using power tools to garden or working on vehicles in his driveway, according to neighbors.
Before his arrest, a spokesperson for City Councilmember Imelda Padilla's office said it had not received any complaints about the horn.
'Our office will be coordinating with appropriate authorities to address these concerns and bring order back to the neighbors on Peach [Avenue] and ensure the individual is offered help," Padilla said in a statement. "This neighborhood deserves peace and quiet in its homes, and the current situation is unacceptable."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.