Henderson police Detective Tony Niswonger examines the backyard Monday of Douglas Hoffman, who is charged with property destruction. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Click image for enlargement. Graphic by Mike Johnson. William Edwards Douglas Hoffman

Sun City Anthem's tree killer suspect ran into the wrong guy over the weekend: a retired cop armed with a golf club.

Since November 2004 about 400 trees had been cut down in overnight sprees in the posh golfing and retirement community, so when 60-year-old William Edwards was driving home in the wee hours of Saturday morning and spotted several young trees freshly sawed off near Sun City Anthem at Scotts Valley drives , he reverted to his days as a deputy sheriff in Ventura County, Calif.

Edwards drove around the neighborhood, making several U-turns, according to a Henderson police report.

He noticed "a freshly cut tree lying in the middle of the road, which he knew was not cut a few minutes prior," the report states.

Then, at Sun City Anthem Drive and Anthem Parkway, Edwards found a man holding the trunk of a tree with his left hand while his right hand was moving back-and-forth in a sawing motion.

In an interview Monday outside his home, Edwards said he then parked his car, grabbed an 8-iron out of his golf bag for protection and approached the man, whom police later identified as 58-year-old Douglas Raymond Hoffman.

"When I saw him, I figured I'd even up the score. It's not like in the old days when I had a gun, handcuffs and a radio. ... He had a saw so I took an 8-iron out of my golf bag," Edwards said.

"I said, 'I saw you cutting that tree,' and I said, 'It's time to give this nonsense up.'"

Hoffman "just shut up" and took a sip from one of the four jugs of water he had with him, Edwards said.

Edwards said he asked Hoffman if he had any weapons. Hoffman replied, "no," but Edwards patted him down anyway and found what turned out to be large, yellow wood-cutting saw under his coat.

"He grabbed the saw and I grabbed the saw at the same time," Edwards said.

Edwards then asked a passing motorist to drive to a nearby fire station and call the police. When the police didn't arrive after about 15 minutes, Edwards escorted Hoffman on foot to the fire station where police arrived a short time later and arrested Hoffman.

The arrest report notes that 17 trees, worth an estimated $12,000, had been cut in the immediate area where Edwards said he saw Hoffman sawing one down. But police spokesmen said Hoffman is suspected of being responsible for the destruction of at least 83 trees in Anthem, bringing the total damage to $57,000.

Hoffman was charged with a felony count of property destruction. He was booked into the Henderson Detention Center early Saturday. Hew was released after he posted $3,000 bail six hours later, authorities said.

Henderson police spokesman Todd Rasmussen said Hoffman, who has lived in the area since 2002, is being investigated for his possible role in the prior cases of vandalism of Anthem trees.

In the arrest report, police note that Hoffman and his wife live in the 2000 block of Colvin Run Drive and "the first incidents of tree cuts happened behind the residences on Colvin Run."

Hoffman's wife told police "that her husband did cut the tops of trees to retain their lot view" but that he "was not responsible for all the trees being cut" because the couple had been out of town when some of the trees were cut down.

There had been four previous tree-chopping sprees in Anthem, Henderson police said. The first was Nov. 15-16, 2004, when about 60 trees were cut. On Feb. 19, about 80 trees were cut, and sometime between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12, about 250 trees were chopped down, Keith Paul, a Henderson police spokesman, said.

Like many Sun City Anthem residents, Edwards said he, too, had been frustrated by recurrent vandalism.

"If you take a look at the destruction ... it's a tragedy," he said.

Edwards said he has no idea why Hoffman might want to hack up so many trees.

Another neighbor, who did not want his name published, said the motive for the tree killing is "the thousand-dollar question. Why would someone want to do that? It really is sad. He obviously had some sort of vendetta."

But a Henderson police detective who showed up late Monday to photograph the view from Hoffman's backyard hinted that the suspected motive is the possibility of trees obstructing the view. Most of the trees were cut three-fourths up their trunks so that they would fall over after some time.

Hoffman was unavailable for comment Monday, and no one responded to knocks on his door.