TV & VIDEO - June 23, 1988

Forget about MTV: An admitted television addict in Redding, Conn., pulled a George Washington and cut down a neighbor’s 50-foot oak tree because it was interfering with the “addict’s” Disney Channel reception. Arthur Anderson, a 59-year-old construction worker, has been charged with second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree criminal trespassing in the incident, according to Redding police officer Brian T. Jones. “I’ve heard of people who have satellite dishes around here but cutting down somebody’s tree for better reception goes a little above and beyond,” said Patrolman John Leonard. Anderson claimed that the tree felling was a mistake: “I didn’t know whose property I was on,” he said. Just a little fairy dust in the eyes, we guess.