A fencing crew in suburban Chicago did not just walk away when a customer refused to pay. They started taking the fence back apart.
Video posted by contractor Cesar Diaz shows workers knocking down sections of the newly installed wooden fence while the homeowner yells at them to leave the property. Diaz opens the clip by telling viewers that someone did not want to pay, so the crew was about to remove the fence.
But the argument had another side. Diaz later told FOX 32 Chicago that the homeowner had complained about dents and scratches on one of the gates and believed the work had not been completed correctly.
Diaz said his father’s fence company offered to repair or replace the affected pieces. According to his account, the homeowner rejected that offer and instead told the workers to take the fence away.
The crew took him literally.
The dispute happened in the 3400 block of Regan Road in unincorporated Will County, outside Joliet city limits, according to Newsweek and FOX 32.
Diaz’s Instagram video shows workers pulling down panels as the homeowner repeatedly orders them off the property. At one point, he can be heard threatening to call police.
Taking It Back
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Diaz told FOX 32 that the marks at the center of the disagreement were relatively minor and that his father told the customer they could make the repairs.
The homeowner did not accept the proposed fix, Diaz said.
Instead, the crew began dismantling what it had installed, using hammers and a chainsaw as the confrontation continued nearby.
Diaz acknowledged to FOX 32 that tearing down the fence was not necessarily the proper way to handle the dispute. He framed the decision as a response to customers who expect contractors to work without ultimately paying them.
The homeowner has not publicly given his account. FOX 32 said a reporter went to the property on Thursday to seek comment, but no one answered the door.
A Different Threat
One detail surrounding the clip became muddled as it spread online.
Early coverage linked the confrontation to a purported threat involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Newsweek reported that Diaz had suggested the homeowner may have believed he could call ICE because the workers were immigrants.
Diaz later directly rejected the stronger version of that claim.
FOX 32 reported that Diaz said the homeowner did not threaten to call ICE. He said the homeowner threatened to call police and did place a call, although officers never arrived.
That distinction matches the confrontation captured in the posted footage, in which the homeowner can be heard threatening to call police.
Not Over Yet
The disagreement did not end when the fence came down.
The Will County Sheriff’s Office told FOX 32 that it is investigating the incident.
Diaz also told the station that the dispute is now being handled in court.
He did not identify the specific court proceeding in the report.