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Neighbors haunted by gunfire on Trump-owned Dutchess land

Feb 14, 2018 1:38 pm
Jake Pearson of the Associated Press reports in The Daily Freeman that a Trump-related hunting preserve in Dutchess County is being used as a private shooting range, angering local residents. A company tied to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump owns a 171-acre hunting preserve in Wingdale. Neighbors are complaining about the the sound of rifle fire and exploding targets. The sound reportedly rattles the windows of one neighbors home. “It’s like you’re in a war zone,” said Elisabetta Berghold, who lives on 42 acres down the road from the Trumps’ land. “It’s bad. It shakes the windows,” said neighbor Mike Dougherty. Leather Hill Preserve LLC bought the land in 2013. Incorporation records show the LLC was created by a Trump Organization executive based out of Trump Tower and that Trump Jr. named himself in July 2013 as the company’s authorized person. Trump Jr. lists himself as the owner of “DT Leather Hill Road LLC” and Eric Trump lists himself as the owner of “194 Leather Hill Road LLC” on public records. A Trump Organization’s spokesperson and its general counsel would not even acknowledge requests to discuss the property, and Trump Jr. also did not reply to reporter inquiries about the property. Dover town building inspector Donn Andersen said they have not received any complaints about the property. Joe Kleinman and his wife, Jocelyn, sold the property in August 2013 for $665,000 and said the buyer's agent tried to get a better deal by invoking a 1991 state court decision that requires buyers disclose to sellers if a property is known to be haunted. Kleinman refused saying a seller who believed the property was haunted would either not sell it, or ask for more. “That was the end of that conversation,” he said. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.