The Indiana Court of Appeals, sitting in its 4‑judge panel, left in place a preliminary injunction that bars Martin L. Booth from tampering with common landscaping in Indianapolis’s Efroymson House Owner’s Association. The decision, released on May 10, 2026, echoes the trial court’s earlier ruling and keeps the injunction alive while the underlying vandalism case remains in limbo.
Booth, who bought the 1,200‑square‑foot house and a carriage house in 2018, had added a garage‑dwelling combo by 2020. A 2019 declaration carved the property into three parcels, earmarking portions as shared spaces and ceding control to the HOA. The association, led by president Kevin Krulewitch, installed a new arborvitae‑lined garden in 2023.
On April 14, Booth slipped into the common area, clipped shrubs, trampled tulips, and tore out lighting. The next day, he felled an eight‑foot arborvitae with an axe, uprooted another shrub, tipped a bench, and ripped lights from the ground. Krulewitch — he confronted him — but Booth declined to cease, insisting the work was routine maintenance.
The HOA sued on April 16, alleging vandalism under Indiana’s Crime Victims Relief Act and seeking civil damages. A trial court issued an emergency restraining order the following day, and on May 6 granted a preliminary injunction, citing Booth’s intent to continue the damage and the irreparable harm to the garden. The court set a $100 surety bond and Booth’s appeal challenged both the bond amount and the exclusion of certain evidence.
The appeals panel found the HOA’s evidence sufficient, ruled no abuse of discretion in the bond, and held that Booth had not shown the trial court was wrong. The injunction remains, and the case will proceed to trial where damages will be determined. Booth now faces the prospect of a courtroom showdown over the home’s shared spaces.