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Hark! That's not the herald angels they're hearing

For years, all they wanted for Christmas on Otis Avenue was a silent night. For Wednesday at least, their wish was granted.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published December 23, 2005

LECANTO - Mary Ann Vacinek raised quite a ruckus when she rocked around the Christmas tree this week. The music shook the neighbors' floorboards.

It wasn't the first time. For Vacinek, every season 'tis the season to be noisy, neighbors complain. They have called sheriff's deputies 30 times in the past three years alone.

Neighbors say the sound emanating from her turquoise house at 320 S Otis Ave. terrorizes their quiet neighborhood just north of State Road 44.

"All you hear is ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom," neighbor Joanne Moody said. "It sounds like a jungle safari."

This week, deputies took strong action. They arrested Vacinek on Wednesday night on a charge of breaching the peace.

Early Monday, a deputy said he could hear the music from 150 feet away, according to an arrest report. He said he tried resolving the issue peacefully and then tried issuing a misdemeanor citation, but Vacinek refused to answer the door.

Wednesday night, a deputy returned and arrested her.

Vacinek, 55, has been released from the Citrus County jail but could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

The type of music varies, neighbors say: country, 1970s pop, rock.

But the volume never changes.

"Just boom, boom, boom," said next-door neighbor Glen Myer.

The 70-year-old retiree said he's called the Sheriff's Office so many times in the past two years that he's lost count.

And Moody said her calls to the Sheriff's Office have been so frequent over the past five years that she "practically knew the dispatchers."

She said she tried asking Vacinek to turn down the music in person.

"I couldn't get past the front door," Moody said. "She just yelled obscenities."

Myer said his negotiation efforts met with similar results.

When he moved to Otis Avenue two years ago, Myer said, he went next door to ask her to turn down the music. But he said Vacinek said she'd have him arrested for trespassing.

"She's not a friendly neighbor," he said.

[Last modified December 23, 2005, 01:13:18]