La Grange Filmmaker/Actor Charged with Assault

A 29-year-old La Grange man who became embroiled in a dispute with his next-door neighbors, apparently in part over his attempts to make a movie on his property, was charged Sunday after a series of altercations and verbal threats, La Grange police said. 

Claude Reid, Jr., 29, of the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue, was arrested at around 11 a.m. and charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault (for threatening behavior) and one count of resisting arrest.

La Grange police were first called to the 300 block of Lincoln on Jan. 31, when neighbors reported Reid yelling through their window. Police reported “conflicting stories of neighbors cursing at each other” and advised the neighbors to stay away from each other. 

Two more noise and/or yelling complaints were reported by Reid’s neighbors: one on Feb. 1 at 8:41 a.m. and another on Feb. 2 at 10:20 a.m. 

A neighbor alleged on Saturday that Reid’s German Shepherd dog had “almost attacked” his girlfriend and her dog as they walked past, according to police records.

Because Reid had cameras set up to film his movie, he was able to show film of the incident to police; according to police reports, the film showed the canine acting curious but in no way aggressive, and returning to Reid when called. Reid was advised to leash his dog.

At 10:47 p.m. that night, according to police reports, a distraught Reid appeared at the La Grange Police Department, visibly upset because his neighbors wouldn’t stop calling the cops on him. Police calmed him down, sent him home—and arrested him the next morning. 

According to a press release, Reid, Jr.’s movie-in-progress, Psychotic, is a script-free horror film about “Jennifer & Michael; they kill their friends and roommates and drink the blood of those whom they kill.” An abandoned Kickstarter campaign for the film raised $60 of a sought $10,000.

The Internet Movie Database shows that Reid, Jr. has appeared in three films.

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