Residents call police after spotting tank rolling through Colorado streets, only to learn it’s for an HBO show
Forget borrowing sugar. These neighbors brought the heavy artillery.
Some neighborhood disputes involve noise complaints, parking spaces, or someone trimming a hedge three inches too short. One Colorado neighborhood faced an armored vehicle, a megaphone, and a police response.
Residents in Arvada, near Denver, watched a tank-like vehicle roll through their streets during filming for HBO’s Neighbors, a documentary series about real-life disputes between people living near one another. According to CBS Colorado’s report, another resident emerged with a rifle during the stunt, and police were called to the neighborhood.
No one was injured or arrested, according to Arvada police. Neighbors disagreed over whether they had been warned about the stunt beforehand.
A tank enters the neighborhood feud
Other neighborly disagreements have escalated into police calls. In footage captured by a landscaper with Refine Custom Landscaping, resident Mark Dias rides atop an armored vehicle and shouts through a megaphone. A sign on the vehicle reads “Make Me Move It.”
The stunt was arranged by producers of the A24-produced HBO series Neighbors, which is following Dias’ longstanding disputes with neighbor Chris Hunnel and the local homeowners association for its second season.
Dias told CBS Colorado that residents knew the vehicle was coming. “Everybody in that cul-de-sac knew that that tank was coming down the road,” he said. “It wasn’t a surprise to anybody.”
Other residents remember things differently. Neighbor Donald Larson said he knew a production crew was filming nearby but had not been told to expect an armored vehicle. Hunnel likewise said he hadn’t been informed about the stunt, despite allowing crews to film on his property.
Dias maintained that the production had prepared residents and obtained media releases. He also emphasized that he neither arranged nor operated the vehicle.
“I did not organize the tank. I did not rent the tank. And I did not drive the tank,” he told CBS Colorado.
Police arrive as tensions escalate
The situation became more serious when another neighbor came outside carrying a rifle. Larson said the resident felt threatened and warned Dias to stay off his property. According to Larson, the weapon was never pointed at anyone. Meanwhile, Dias argued that the confrontation only became dangerous once the firearm appeared.
“There was no anger, there was no aggression, nobody’s life was in danger until that guy pulled a gun,” Dias told the Colorado news outlet.
The tank appears to be a recent development in a dispute between Dias and his neighbors that has reportedly lasted about a decade. Dias and his neighbors have reportedly been feuding for about a decade, although nobody seems to take credit for starting it.
Hunnel believes the HBO production made the dispute worse. Larson said some residents are concerned about what could happen next.
Police are also investigating whether residents signed media releases. Authorities said they could not find evidence that the production had obtained a city filming permit.
Homeowners association disputes can get spectacularly petty. In this case, a yearslong conflict between neighbors has become the subject of an HBO production, while police are looking into questions about filming permits and residents’ media releases
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