NEIGHBORS' DISPUTE ERUPTS IN GUNFIRE.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - The wake-up call came around 6 a.m. Friday - first the clock radio and then the fusillade of bullets that smashed through the apartment wall.

John Dickson tumbled out of bed unhurt from the attack that police said was carried out by his next-door neighbor as part of a long-running dispute over noise.

``The first shot, I figured my television was blowing up, because I heard glass,'' said Dickson, 47. ``The second shot, I heard plaster - at least seven, eight to 12 shots. It was terrifying.''

After firing the shots, the gunman barricaded himself inside his apartment at the Chatsworth Garden complex in the 21000 block of Lassen Street for five hours until surrendering peacefully.

John Leggette, 45, was arrested on suspicion of discharging a firearm in a negligent manner, said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Harold Cox.

Leggette surrendered the arms at 11 a.m., after 10 tear gas rounds were fired through his second-story window.

He had difficulty leaving, however, because he had glued his doors shut to prevent officers from entering, said Capt. Joseph Curreri of the LAPD's Devonshire Division.

The suspect was found in possession of several high-powered rifles, Curreri said. ``Luckily, there were no injuries.''

Leggette was a geochemist who had worked several years as a nighttime forklift operator, police and neighbors said.

Mary Thompson, the apartment manager, said Leggette was disturbed by Dickson's two children who visited on weekends, though no children were at the house Friday. He didn't like noise from morning cartoons, or the stereo.

Dickson said Leggette had banged on his walls for years. ``He's been harassing me, walking by the window,'' he said. ``He's unstoppable.''

Others say both neighbors provoked each other.

``They kinda had a feud going for quite some time,'' said Bob Owen, 47, the apartment manager's son.

Three dozen residents, some wearing bathrobes, were evacuated from the 60-unit complex as two LAPD divisions and a SWAT team cordoned off the area. Businesses across the street also were asked to evacuate.

``Do I feel inconvenienced?'' asked Chris Agnone, a Chatsworth Gardens resident in sweats, sans shoes. ``Not at all - I could be sleeping, I've no watch, no cell phone, no nothin.' ''

Several neighbors described Leggette as a lean man who didn't drive, rode a mountain bicycle and carried a backpack everywhere he went. Several said Leggette liked to talk about or show off his guns.

Some said Leggette had a good heart.

``We were friends,'' Owen said. ``He was a Christian, he belonged to some church and used to go to downtown L.A. and cook (for) and feed the homeless.''

His father had died recently and left him his guns, Owen said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

SWAT team members fire tear gas into the apartment of a gunman who barricaded himself inside Friday morning.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Map: Site of shooting