DAVIS, California -- A Davis, California woman faces a Feb. 23 court date for violating the city's noise ordinance by allegedly snoring too loudly.
Davis police cited the woman after her next-door neighbor complained the snoring was keeping him awake at night.
'It's really sad that this is happening,' said the 30-year-old woman, who asked not to be identified. 'I've been married for nine years and my husband has never complained about (my snoring).'
The commotion began in the early morning hours of Jan. 31, when Chris Doherty called police to complain about the snoring on the other side of his thin, duplex wall.
After failing to reach a compromise, Davis police cited the woman under the city's noise ordinance that bars residents from making noises that would annoy any 'reasonable person.'
'This is the first case of its kind,' said Lt. Nick Concolino. 'And hopefully the last.'
The woman faces a $50 fine, but city officials have stepped in to try and have the issue resolved out of court.
'This is not a place where government belongs at all,' Mayor Lois Wolk told the Davis Enterprise newspaper. 'The government does not belong in the bedroom, listening through walls to other people's houses. '
Under the ordinance, a person can be cited if they willfully create a nuisance. Since the woman said she does not snore willfully, she hopes the case will be thrown out.
Doherty first approached his neighbors late last year to complain about the snoring, prompting the woman and her husband to place a mattress against the wall to try and muffle the sound.
Unfortunately, the effort failed to appease Doherty, who finally brought the issue to police.
