Real-estate agent fined for harassing neighbor

HAVERFORD The case of two Main Line real estate agents accused of trying to sabotage the sale of their next-

door neighbor's property because their own home also was on the market has ended much more quietly than it
began.
In a two-day bench trial that ended Dec. 6, District Judge Kathleen M. Valentine found Jonathan M. Straub, 41,

 guilty of harassment and disorderly conduct and fined him $25.

Straub's trial took place after the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office withdrew similar charges in

November against his wife, Andrea D. Straub, 35. Prosecutors determined there was not enough evidence to

prove she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Colgan said.

The incident involved residents of Booth Lane in Haverford, a street of spacious yards and homes.

In June, Lower Merion Township police received a complaint accusing the Straubs of vandalizing the property of

 Mary Martell, who was in the hospital at the time of the incident.

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Video taken by security cameras in Martell's yard was played at Jonathan Straub's trial. The

defendant admitted

on the stand that he was the person shown knocking down for-sale signs in Martell's yard,

 Colgan said. He

previously said he had thrown a dead snake onto her property......Read More

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