A Valley homeowners association director pepper sprayed a couple during a street fight outside their north Scottsdale home, according to a police report.
The fight between David Creed and Scottsdale Mountain HOA Director Lonnie Muto broke out on Aug. 6 in the community near 136th Street and East Via Linda Road, according to Scottsdale police. Muto had been driving with his wife, Jane, when he got out with pepper spray after he thought Creed and his girlfriend, Sheila Janisch, had thrown something at his car.
The melee, which took place in the middle of a street, came after years of lawsuits and at least one other altercation between the couples. Their disagreement stems from Janisch's changes to her home's landscaping in 2020.
Police said the fight
ended with Muto being taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and Creed and Janisch recovering from being pepper sprayed.
Police recommended Muto be charged with assault, according to the Aug. 6 report. He wasn't arrested. On Aug. 10, a Scottsdale City Court judge issued an order of protection against him, but it's not clear who the order protects.
Creed was advised by his attorney not to comment.
Scottsdale Mountain's HOA attorney, Chuck Oldham, said: "We are aware of the police report but have no comment on it at this time."
In a 2024 lawsuit, Janisch and Creed allege that the Scottsdale Mountain Community Association and its board members — Lonnie Muto, Bill Dubé, Yuri Ellis and Tom McVay as well as Jane Muto — engaged in a retaliatory campaign against them for landscaping changes they made to repair water damage in their yard.
Oldham said the HOA board "is confident" the record will show in court that it followed the association’s declarations, bylaws, design guidelines, rules, regulations and applicable state statutes.
"Because the matter is in active litigation, the board will not comment on specific allegations," he said.
Dennis Legere, founder of the Arizona Homeowners Coalition, an advocacy and lobbying group for people living in HOAs told The Arizona Republic HOA fights are common in the Valley.
He said some Valley HOAs have security or even police at their meetings.
It wasn't the first altercation between the couples. Police had been called to the community for those complaints in the past, according to the police report.
The original 2024 lawsuit alleged the defendants went after the couple over gray riprap and Table Mesa Brown rock they added to their yard, which Janisch and Creed say other residents of Scottsdale Mountain have used in their yards.
Janisch and Creed also accused the HOA board and group named in the suit of:
- holding closed executive meetings without proper notice when discussing their architectural applications and penalties;
- threatening foreclosure action;
- defamation;
- deactivating their electronic gate access;
- refusing to provide HOA records.
The defamation allegation stems from a 2025 anonymous letter about Janisch sent to 700 Scottsdale Mountain homeowners when she was running for a seat on the HOA board, according to the lawsuit. The letter said Janisch and Creed's lawsuit contained numerous false claims and that she wanted a board seat to pardon fines and sanctions against herself.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale HOA landscaping feud leads to pepper spray fight, police say
