Judge Puts Ceiling on Upstairs Noise

A judge has warned Berenice Rogers that she must slip out of her high heels before she strolls around her condominium.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Burk said Tuesday that if Rogers persists in annoying her downstairs neighbors with her noisy footsteps, she could be pacing inside a jail cell.

Bernard and Sonja Arbuse, who live directly below Rogers, said the problem began in 1984 when Rogers had Italian tile floors installed in her $235,000 condominium.

The couple’s attorney, Charles Nugent, asked Burk to order Rogers to install carpeting. Rogers told the judge she has put down Oriental and sheepskin rugs and will remove her shoes at the door, but she did not want carpeting.

“I don’t believe Mrs. Rogers is required to give up her right to decorate,” the judge said, “and I don’t believe I can require her to stop walking.”