Owner of Ladder in District Feud Sets Home Afire, Shoots Himself

A Northwest Washington man who has been in a tense neighborhood dispute over a ladder apparently set fire to his home and shot himself yesterday after authorities came to his residence, D.C. police said.

Nathaniel Rabinowitz was scheduled to appear today in D.C. Superior Court in a dispute over a ladder he chained to the back of his Logan Circle rowhouse. Neighbors and police have said that criminals used the two-story ladder to break into other homes on the block.

Nathaniel Rabinowitz, 60, refused to remove the ladder, which stands two stories tall and has been chained to the back of his house since 2001.

Rabinowitz, who put the ladder up in 2001, has said he has a right to keep it. He was hospitalized last night with a gunshot wound to the head....More?