The autistic man who has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against his Huntington Beach neighbors and also has 37 restraining orders against him will appear in court for a pretrial on Wednesday for charges that include his alleged use of social media to harass his neighbors.
John Patrick Rogers is being charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of contempt of court, resisting a peace officer and harassment by electronic communication.

Rogers has appeared in court several times over the years in an ongoing battle with his neighbors that has resulted in more than two dozen restraining orders being filed against the high-functioning autistic man. His neighbors have complained that he videotaped children, taunted people with his pit bull and sent defamatory letters to his neighbors at the Huntington Beach Gables community near the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.
Neighbors have also said Rogers has been caught using a flashlight to peek into people’s windows at night and has posted harassing YouTube videos.
Rogers contends that he is the victim and he wants his privacy. He has said his neighbors harass him and has also alleged that he has been unfairly treated by law enforcement agencies.
Huntington Beach Police Capt. Russell Reinhart said the police department has tried many times to reach out to Rogers and assist him but to no avail.
“The arrests related to these claims were lawful and appropriate,” he wrote in an email to the Register. “We hope at some point a solution can be reached that does not involve restraining orders and the criminal justice system.
“Until he desires to live peaceably with his neighbors, unfortunately, the criminal justice system appears to be the only temporary solution.”
Rogers has also been using Twitter to talk about his neighbors, they said. In some of his most recent tweets Rogers listed neighbors’ addresses, phone numbers, license plate numbers and the names of some children.
The Twitter account also has tweets accusing his neighbors of using drugs and he also talks about young children being raped, his account shows.
“The biggest concern on his Twitter and YouTube is the children. He writes the name of the school … their ages, dates of birth and addresses,” neighbor Jo Ann Newcomb wrote in an email to the Register. “He is inviting other nut jobs to harm the children … and other parents should be warned. He is a danger to our whole community outside the Gables complex.”
Rogers suffers from Asperger’s and Tourette’s syndrome. He also says he suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome as a result of a 1998 stabbing when he argued with a man staying in his apartment.
He filed a lawsuit in March against the Huntington Beach Police Department saying he had been defamed and harassed. That lawsuit was dismissed in May, according to court records.
Rogers has filed 16 cases in Orange County’s small claims court in 2009 and nine cases in Orange County’s civil claims court beginning in 2002, according to court documents. He was ordered by a Superior Court judge in May to stop filing any more “frivolous suits”.
He was arrested May 21 and charged with felony malicious mischief. The felony charge could have landed him a life sentence in prison if he was convicted because it would have been his third strike. However, Rogers pleaded guilty and the charge was reduced to misdemeanor vandalism. Court records show he had put a small scratch on an 18-year-old car.
Rogers pleaded guilty in April 2003 to two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The weapon was a paintball gun.
He also has a record of lewd conduct, according to court records.