Friendly gesture ends in courtBy George Lurie
Herald Staff Writer
Two Durango teens, whose late-night delivery of cookies to a frightened neighbor resulted in a $930 court judgment against them this week, won't have to dig into their own pockets to pay the fine.
Wanita Renea Young won a $930 judgment against two girls who left cookies on her front porch July 31. Young says the incident gave her an anxiety attack, which required hospital care. "Fifteen years ago, I was assaulted by one of my neighbors as I was taking my children to meet the school bus, and I wondered if somehow the incident was connected to that," she said.
Taylor Ostergaard, left, and Lindsey Zellitti display cookies on Thursday similar to ones the two made last summer for their neighbors near Durango. Ostergaard says " ... we were only trying to do something nice. There was no malicious intent whatsoever."
Denver radio station KOA-AM raised more than $1,900 from listeners Friday to pay the girls' $930.78 fine. The remaining sum will go to a charity dedicated to victims of the Columbine High School massacre.
As the radio station raised the money, Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Zellitti, both 18, flew to New York City to tape a segment about the cookie caper for ABC's "Good Morning America." But not before the father of one of the girls filed a restraining order against the husband of the litigious neighbor.
On Thursday, Ostergaard and Zellitti found themselves in small claims court and on the losing side of a decision by La Plata County Magistrate Doug Walker.
Ostergaard, a senior at Durango High School, and Zellitti, a freshman at Colby College in Kansas, were ordered to pay $930.78 to Wanita Renea Young. The judgment stems from a July 31 incident that began when the two girls decided to skip a local teen dance and bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies, which they then left - together with anonymous notes - on the doorsteps of nine of their rural neighbors.
"An innocent gesture by two young ladies to be kind to their neighbors has turned into a real circus," said Richard Ostergaard, Taylor's father.
Richard Ostergaard successfully filed a restraining order against Young's husband, Herb, on Friday afternoon in county court, claiming he continues to make harassing telephone calls to the Ostergaard residence.
Wanita Young, 49, is a cashier at Wal-Mart and has been director of the Durango Food Bank since 1990. She lives off of County Road 214 in a rural area on the mesa south of Durango and was in the basement of her house watching television with her 86-year-old mother and 19-year-old daughter about 10:20 p.m. when the incident took place.
"We heard this horrible banging on the door, like someone was trying to break it down," Young said Friday. "I ran upstairs and called out 'Who's there?' three or four times. But no one answered me and when I looked out the window, there weren't any vehicles in sight. But I could see the silhouette of someone on the other side of the window. I got really scared and called the sheriff's department."
According to documents filed with the court, the girls had parked about 500 feet away from Young's home, shielding their car behind a grove of trees.
A statement by Taylor Ostergaard included in court documents said the girls "knocked on the door three times loudly, left the plate of cookies on the step and ran away. (We) wanted someone to hear the door and find the cookies so an animal wouldn't eat them before morning."
Three La Plata County sheriff's deputies, who arrived at Young's home shortly before 11 p.m., discovered the cookies and a note scribbled on red, heart-shaped construction paper reading: "Have a great night. Love, The T and L Club."
The initials, unbeknownst to Young, stood for Taylor and Lindsey.
"I had no idea what the note meant," Young said. "Fifteen years ago, I was assaulted by one of my neighbors as I was taking my children to meet the school bus, and I wondered if somehow the incident was connected to that.
"After the deputies looked around, they weren't sure what had gone on and said that it might be a good idea if I took my mother and daughter and stayed in a motel that night," Young said. "My husband was out of town, so I decided to spend the night in Farmington at my sister's house. Driving down there, I was throwing up and feeling a lot of pressure in my chest. I thought I might be having a heart attack."
The next morning, Young went to the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center, incurring more than $1,400 in hospital bills for what doctors eventually diagnosed as an anxiety attack.
Several days later, Young found out who had left the cookies on her doorstep while speaking on the telephone with Taylor Ostergaard's mother, Jill Ostergaard, who offered to pay for expenses related to the incident not covered by Young's health insurance plan.
The girls also wrote a note of apology to Young, but on the advice of an attorney, they opted not to meet with her in person.
Several weeks later, the Taylors and Ostergaards sent Young an attorney-authored agreement outlining their intention to pay Young and releasing the two families from any further financial liability related to the incident.
But Young was advised not to sign the document and took the girls to small claims court - where a decision Thursday resulted in a victory for Young and national attention for the two teenagers.
Lindsey Zellitti was not available for comment Friday but her mother, Martha, said: "We have no qualms against the judge or Mrs. Young. Obviously, this thing snowballed out of control. These kids were just trying to do an act of kindness."
Martha Zellitti said her daughter planned to return to college after her trip to New York, adding that the teens had decided to decline a request to appear on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Taylor Ostergaard said Friday she and Lindsey had no idea of Young's troubled history with other neighbors.
"When I found out she had been assaulted, it did change my perspective and the way I looked at what we did," Ostergaard said. "But we were only trying to do something nice. There was no malicious intent whatsoever."
"This has turned into quite a fiasco," Young said. "It's something that never should have happened and it's just devastating. My phone hasn't stopped ringing. My life has been threatened and I'll probably have to move out of town.
"All I wanted was for those girls to admit that they used poor judgment and apologize in person. If they had done that, I wouldn't have even asked for the money. I just hope they learned a lesson."
Herald Editorial Assistant Lisa Meerts-Brandsma contributed to this report. Reach Staff Writer George Lurie here .
So she was scared, did call the cops and did leave the house that night. I am trying to picture that incident on COPS - - somehow I think it would appear the girls happened to pick on the wrong person, a woman who would have freaked out if a bird flew into her window.
I wonder who she would have sued then.
Personally, I think these lawsuits get pretty stupid at times. The parents offered to pay any medical bills her insurance wouldn't cover - this woman, IMO, preferred to make this a public circus. Bet her anxiety level just jumped 10 points - and she has no one but herself to blame.
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