THORNTON, CO (KCNC/CNN) - A big windstorm a couple of weeks ago in Colorado blew a family's trampoline into their neighbor's yard.
The neighbor is refusing to give it back. But, he said, if the father next door “acted like a white person” he would have given it back.
"It bugs me, it bugs me and it hurts me,” said Russell Cordova, who is seeking to retrieve his family’s trampoline.
He said he can’t understand his neighbor’s holdout.
"Unusual. It just blows me away,” he said. “I don't understand what the motive is for them keeping our trampoline."
He said his neighbors even yelled at his wife when she tried to ask for it back.
"I think it kind of sucks,” Cordova’s daughter said. “And we really miss our trampoline."
According to Cordova, his neighbor claims it damaged his flagpole, and he wants him to pay for it.
Cordova said he checked with his insurance company, and they said his neighbor's insurance should cover the flagpole.
"I kind of felt stuck,” he said. “So, my thought was since right now I'm unemployed and I'm trying to make things work I can't just go out and buy them a trampoline."
The neighbor pointed the finger back at Cordova.
“They’re the ones who sat here and called my wife every name in the book,” said the neighbor. “He sat over there like a little coward yelling at my wife. He called the cops on me twice, saying I damaged his (trampoline) - no, if they want it back, they can sue me."
The neighbor said if he was given $1,400, he would give it back.
He then said that if Cordova “acted like a white person” things would be different.
"Look, if he had acted like a white person he could have gotten it back. It's that simple," the neighbor said.
Cordova maintains he just wants the trampoline back.
He said he's going to give it a little bit of time, but he's not optimistic.
"I think they're going to let it sit there a little to taunt us and then take it down and throw it away or something," Cordova said.
There is some good news for the family, however: Another neighbor they connected with on the social media site "Nextdoor" says if they don't get it back, they're going to give him their trampoline.
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