An Eagle Point man who became a school safety crusader after his daughter was killed in Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting massacre has pleaded not guilty to charges that he stalked and threatened his neighbors and tried to force them to sell their property.

Andrew Scott Pollack, 57, is accused of four counts of coercion, four counts of stalking, four counts of second-degree disorderly conduct and three counts of menacing for his alleged repeated contact with the victims, Keith and Meagan Mapes, between late 2022 and early 2023.

Pollack declined comment on the charges and referred all questions to his Fort Lauderdale-based attorney, Eric Schwartzreich.

“There’s the saying you can indict a ham sandwich, and that’s what happened here. Mr. Pollack, unfortunately, had a target on his back,” Schwartzreich said. “He shouldn’t have been indicted. There certainly isn’t any crime here, and there’s not going to be any crime that’s proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Schwartzreich also defended Pollack’s use of his land. Although his attorney did not explicitly mention it, court records show Pollack sued the Mapes for adverse possession and quiet title in 2022. The Mapes, who counter-sued, lost their case to a judge earlier this year, but they have appealed the ruling.

“This is a situation with a landowner doing what he wants on his land,” Schwartzreich said, referring to Pollack. “There’s no crime here. There’s no assault; there’s no threat; there’s no coercion. There’s nothing.”

Schwartzreich acknowledged Pollack has become a public figure after losing his daughter, Meadow Jade Pollack, to the now infamous high school mass shooting on Valentine’s Day of 2018 in Parkland, Florida.

“Unfortunately, that could be a reason why Mr. Pollack is targeted here or why a true bill was given,” Schwartzreich said, referring to the indictment.

Schwartzreich also said that, “When the dust settles … perhaps we will be taking further legal action.” Civil lawsuit

Court records show a bitter feud between the Pollacks and the Mapes in civil court over their abutting property in Eagle Point.

On Sept. 5, 2019, Pollack and his wife, Julie Phillips, purchased property in the 8000 block of South Fork Little Butte Creek Road in Eagle Point. The couple then formed a limited liability corporation, Sunnybrook West, and declared a portion of the land Sunnybrook Ranch.

Months before the Pollacks purchased their land, the Mapes purchased property in the 9000 block of the same road, which was separated by a barbed wire fence that bordered the Sunnybrook Ranch property.

But Pollack and the Mapes could not agree on whether a portion of land — complete with fruit trees and an irrigated pasture — belonged to them.

Pollack believed the property belonged to him since he inspected title documents and learned through his real estate broker that the previous owners of his property erected the fence.

But in court documents filed by the Mapes, the couple contended that when Pollack purchased his property, parts of the fence were either missing or not located in a straight line. The Mapes then called a Jackson County surveyor, who found that the old broken fences and some of the areas that the Pollacks began using were on the Mapes’ side of the property line, the couple alleged.

The Mapes wished to remove the old fence and claim that in doing so, they told the Pollacks, but the couple responded by launching a lawsuit.

Pollack lodged his civil complaint in Jackson County Circuit Court on April 16, 2021. The Mapes counter-sued.

Jackson County Circuit Court Judge David G. Hoppe heard witness testimony and examined evidence during a three-day hearing in November.

On Jan. 11, Hoppe issued a letter to both parties stating he ruled in favor of Pollack.

The Mapes filed an appeal April 4.

But neighbors of the Pollacks say that even before the judge issued his ruling in the civil case, the Parkland parent was angry at the Mapes — and tried to force them to sell their property.

Stalking and coercion allegations

The Rogue Valley Times was not able to obtain police reports regarding Pollack around the dates mentioned in the indictment. And Melissa LeRitz, the deputy district attorney over Pollack’s criminal case, said she does not comment on open cases.

But Chris Cooper, a neighbor of Pollack, provided some insight into the alleged criminal conduct. Cooper described Pollack as a “very charismatic” and “articulate” former real estate agent when he met him at a Winter Solstice party in Eagle Point several years ago.

But Cooper said his perception changed after Pollack “began this war of terrorism on his next-door neighbors.”

Cooper said Pollack used a propane cannon — a gas-powered device typically used to scare off wildlife — as an intimidation tactic. A letter sent from a neighbor to Jackson County commissioners said the cannon could shoot 5,000 blasts per 5-gallon tank of propane. One time, it discharged every five seconds for more than six hours.

Both Cooper, and the letter provided by a neighbor who requested anonymity, said the cannon is timed to fire when the Mapes are home — even when their children were being picked up and dropped off at school. One of those parents said her youngest daughter rides that bus.

“It sounded like they were being shot at,” the parent said. “My daughter was really concerned she was going to be harmed.”

The parent added she has since explained to her daughter the difference between a propane cannon and a “real cannon.” In addition, the parent has asked the bus come to a different spot.

“I’m incredibly angry about it,” she said.

In addition to the propane cannon, neighbors said Pollack had something else at his disposal: Tannerite, an explosive set off by firearms. Neighbors wrote to commissioners that the sound of Tannerite exploding was much louder than the propane cannon. One day in January, around 10 p.m., a Tannerite blast “shook people out of their beds, rattled houses and the ground for a mile or more from the blast area,” according to the neighbors’ letter.

When the suspicious activity became too much, Cooper said, a local businessman who is friends with Pollack visited the Parkland parent’s home and asked him why he was setting off explosions. Pollack allegedly said, “ ‘I want their property,’ ” referring to the Mapes.

Cooper shared a Facebook post from Pollack in which he referred to his neighbor by writing, “He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to move.”

A retired carpenter, Cooper has chosen to stay on his Eagle Point property, but he said others in the area have had to evacuate.

“It’s untenable to live there anymore because of this activity,” Cooper said. “We all think he’s crazy. Our doctor neighbors use the word ‘psychopath.’ ”

Another neighbor convinced others in the area to co-sign the letter dated Jan. 25 asking the Jackson County commissioners for help with the “deliberate effort to terrorize the Lake Creek community” — without mentioning Pollack.

“We don’t want to think about (domestic terrorism) happening in our Rogue Valley, but it certainly is in Lake Creek,” the letter stated.

The neighbor told the Rogue Valley Times the commissioners responded saying they cannot do much to help with the situation. Commissioner Colleen Roberts did not respond to a request for comment.

Cooper said he loves Eagle Point — but the only thing that makes it “untenable,” he said, is “this guy Andrew Pollack, who has come in and disrupted this entire community.”

When Pollack was sent questions pertaining to his neighbors’ accusations, he responded in an email: “My attorney and I already gave a statement last week,” referring to the earlier comments by Schwartzreich.

Since Pollack’s daughter was killed in Parkland, Pollack has become an activist for school safety, advocating for things like more school resource officers and plain-clothed guards in schools, single point of entry to schools and even armed teachers.

Pollack is the public face of Byrna Technologies, which offers, among other products, the Byrna Launcher, which fires “chemical irritants and kinetic projectiles designed to incapacitate attackers.”

In a Rogue Valley Times interview, Pollack said he moved here because Eagle Point seemed like a place to get “peace and quiet.”

“I wanted to pick a peaceful place that my wife’s family could come and enjoy,” Pollack said. “You want to move somewhere and get some peace. You don’t want a neighbor that’s going to take your fence down.”

Pollack’s next court appearance on the criminal charges is May 22.