6 suspected squatters arrested outside $500K Atlanta home less than 2 weeks after new law criminalizing squatting took effect



Six suspected squatters were arrested outside an Atlanta-area home worth more than a half-million dollars — and thanks to a new law, they may soon be gone for good.

"This is the worst criminal activity I’ve ever seen in my life."

The house at 4300 Caveat Court in the Hampton Oaks neighborhood of South Fulton, Georgia, was supposed to be vacant. It's estimated worth, according to Zillow, is $518,400.

But on Christmas day 2023, several squatters allegedly took advantage of the vacant home and moved in as though they owned it. Neighbors knew no one should be living in the home, but there was little they could do about the alleged squatting because at the time, Georgia law treated squatting as a civil matter.

"The ringleader, we see him walking his dog all the time," said Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association vice president Kendra Snorton. "He's very courteous and polite when he interacts with the community."

However, the suspected squatters may have told on themselves when they allegedly broke into another home in the neighborhood while the owner was out of town, stole the owner's car, and parked it on the driveway of the home they'd been occupying, rent-free.

"When the police showed up, the car was behind us in the yard," said Hampton Oaks HOA president Mel Keyton. "That's how we put two and two together."

All six suspected squatters were arrested. Two were charged with felonies. The other four were charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The vehicle was returned to its rightful owner.

But the drama didn't end there. The suspected squatters then bonded out of jail and came back and broke into a neighborhood home within 24 hours, Keyton told Fox News, though whether they allegedly broke into the home they had been occupying or the home where they stole the car is unclear. Keyton said the suspects were quickly rearrested.

"This is the worst criminal activity I’ve ever seen in my life," said Keyton, who's running as a Democrat for the Georgia state House.

"It's dangerous," he added. "They use our amenities. They walk through the neighborhood. They break into houses."

Thankfully, on April 24, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law the Georgia Squatter Reform Act, which took effect immediately. The new law makes squatting in Georgia a misdemeanor criminal offense that can result in a $1,000 fine, a year behind bars, or both. The charge can even be elevated to a felony if a squatter were to forge documents to further the squatting scheme.

With some 1,200 homes in and around Atlanta inhabited by squatters, this new anti-squatting law gives hope to beleaguered residents.

"Hopefully, it won’t get this bad [again]," Keyton said. "Hopefully, we won’t have to use this amount of police."

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‘Squatters Have No Rights’: John Fetterman Rips Soft Treatment Of Home Occupiers

'I am not woke'

Alleged attempted murderer among armed illegal aliens found squatting with drugs in NYC home: Police



Several illegal aliens, including one man accused of attempted murder, were apprehended in a recent raid of a home in the Bronx.

Around 10 p.m. last Wednesday, NYPD received a call about a man wielding a firearm at a home on Hull Avenue in the Norwood section of the Bronx. When officers arrived, they spotted an armed suspect dash downstairs.

A pursuit of the suspect revealed a rather chaotic scene: Eight adults and a 7-year-old child were gathered in a room in the basement of the building. In the area, police reportedly also found at least two other loaded weapons, a "ghost gun," ammunition, and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine.

The following suspects, all of whom are believed to be foreign nationals, were arrested: Javier Alborno of Venezuela, 22; Johan Cardenas Silva, 35; Hector Desousa-Villalta of Venezuela, 24; Yerbin Lozado-Munoz, 25; Yojairo Martinez, 42; Jefferson Orlando Abreau, 39; Yoessy Pino Castillo, a 20-year-old female; and Miguel Vaamondes-Barrios, 31.

All were charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Neighbors say the group has been a nuisance in the area for a while. "They're squatters and the owner has been trying to get them out of the apartment for the longest period of time," said Alfred Munoz. "They came, they were a disruptive force mainly because there were a lot of them. You didn't know who was staying, not staying there, and the owner of the building had a hell of a time trying to get them out."

Many of them are already well known to law enforcement as well. Some are suspected of being involved in a string of robberies in Bergen County, New Jersey, though they have not yet been charged. Vaamondes-Barrios has been accused of committing retail theft in Pennsylvania and New York. He had been held on $25,000 bail in one of those cases and may face extradition.

Alborno, who allegedly attempted to flee the Bronx apartment with a gun when the cops arrived, was also arrested last September for allegedly carrying a loaded firearm. Though the prosecutor in that case requested Alborno be held on $10,000 bond, the judge released him.

And in an apparently violent culmination of an argument over a woman in Yonkers, Desousa supposedly shot a fellow illegal immigrant in the leg last August. While Desousa was later charged with attempted murder, the victim later reportedly refused to cooperate in the investigation.

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell claimed that the cases against Desousa and Alborno remain "open."

Desousa and Alborno now both remain in custody in connection with the most recent charges, but the others apprehended during the Bronx raid were released without bail.

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Florida Sheriff Grady Judd blasts squatters as 'dopers and freeloaders,' warns they're in for a 'one-way ride to the county jail'



No-nonsense Florida Sheriff Grady Judd blasted home squatters as a "bunch of dopers and freeloaders" and warned the hated bunch that if they pull their antics down his way, they're in for a "one-way ride to the county jail."

Judd — who heads up the sheriff's office in Polk County — sent his message Monday morning during an interview with Fox News' Lawrence Jones in the wake of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signing a bill that squashes squatters:

— (@)

In fact, Judd told Jones that past police action in Polk County already had been making life difficult for squatters: "We never had that problem because we go to the house, we determine, 'Well, the real owner doesn’t know who these people are entered into no contract.' We load 'em up, give 'em a one-way ride to the county jail. It’s just that simple. You don’t have to bog it down in court. Just do what’s right.”

Judd added to Jones that "it's always been that way in this county; they pop smoke on us and leave whenever they get out of jail, and they’re gone. I mean, they’re gone fast because we don’t put up with it, and that’s the bottom line, Lawrence. Across this nation, if you get tired of it, do something about it." Judd also said crime is at a 50-year low in Polk.

When Jones asked Judd if he had advice for homeowners elsewhere in the U.S. to avert what's become a headline-grabbing "crisis" as of late, the sheriff didn't mince words.

“You don’t have to make it a civil deal. When somebody breaks into your home, whether you're in it at the time — it may be up for sale, you may have gone on a cruise around the world — for whatever reason, your property's empty. People don’t have the right to move in, turn the electricity on, change the locks, and claim it as theirs," Judd said. "It’s not difficult. It’s burglary. It’s theft of your property. It’s trespassing. Just use your current laws and go arrest them and lock 'em up."

For homeowners who want compensation for money they've spent removing squatters, Judd acknowledged that's much tougher: "You can sue them, but you can't get blood out of a turnip. They don't have anything. What little money they have they stick up their nose or in their veins. They're just a bunch of dopers and freeloaders. We call 'em squatters."

— (@)

Homeowners have had enough

As readers of Blaze News know by now, police recently arrested the owner of a $1 million home in New York City for changing the locks on a squatter and charged her with unlawful eviction.

Outrage over the incident apparently led a pair of men soon after to show up at the home "looking to get this guy out."

Amid all that, a Venezuelan immigrant created a viral video in which he encouraged illegal aliens to find vacant homes and become squatters: "I have thought about invading a house in the United States. I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it."

Also, an Atlanta man had been fighting for years to move dozens of squatters off his property, spent thousands on cleanup, and actually was sued for $190,000.

In addition, a crew known as the "Squatter Squad" gained widespread attention after they were depicted in a recent video confronting a dozen squatters in one Los Angeles-area home, kicking in a door, and sending the lot of them packing.

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Video: 'Squatter Squad' crew confronts 12 squatters in 1 home, kicks in door, sends 'em packing



A crew known as the "Squatter Squad" was shown on a recent video confronting a dozen squatters in one Los Angeles-area home, kicking in a door, and sending the lot of them packing, Fox News reported.

The Squatter Squad noted to the cable network that it's been legally removing squatters from private properties since 2018.

In this recent instance, the task at first glance appeared challenging, with a few imposing figures standing in the way of the Squatter Squad outside the home's front door.

"You guys ... can't be here," one of the squatters — who was apparently recording his own video — said as he held a cigarette in his mouth.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"Well, we're coming in," one of the Squatter Squad members replied.

Fox News said the Squatter Squad uses a number of legal means to remove people who enter homes and refuse to leave.

In this case, the Squad was conducting a home inspection — and the group noted in the video description that "the county of Los Angeles requires a 24-hour notice for entry, construction work, inspection, repairs, etc. We gave them proper notice. Entry has nothing to do with the court system. They were just babbling nonsense."

"We're gonna press charges," one of the squatters said.

"Take me to court," the Squatter Squad member replied, before hollering, "This isn't your property! You don't f***ing own this place!"

Soon the Squatter Squad crew was all over the property and removing items.

In one part of the video, one Squatter Squad member is seen yelling through a back door, "Show me you're on the lease! Show me you're on the lease! You know you're not on the lease."

Soon he's done talking — and begins to kick the door in.

According to the video description, police soon arrived after the squatters called them — but the cops just watched. "Their level of entitlement was extreme," the video description said of the squatters. "But they didn't know who they were dealing with."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Soon after, the Squatter Squad said the intruders began to move out as no-trespassing signs were displayed, a new lock was placed on a gate, and the windows were boarded up.

Content warning: Profanity:

Squatter Removal Job in Los Angeles County youtu.be

Anything else?

As readers of Blaze News know, police recently arrested the owner of a $1 million home in New York City for changing the locks on a squatter and charged her with unlawful eviction.

Outrage over the incident apparently led a pair of men soon after to show up at the home "looking to get this guy out."

Amid all that, a Venezuelan immigrant created a viral video in which he encouraged illegal aliens to find vacant homes and become squatters: "I have thought about invading a house in the United States. I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it."

— (@)

Also, an Atlanta man had been fighting for years to move dozens of squatters off his property, spent thousands on cleanup, and actually was sued for $190,000.

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Up to 30 squatters took over Atlanta man's property for years; he spent thousands to clean up estate, got sued for $190,000



A Georgia man has been desperately fighting for years to remove dozens of squatters off his property in Atlanta. The property owner has faced major hurdles in trying to reclaim his land from the squatters, including spending thousands to clean up the estate and being sued for $190,000.

David Morris owns a nine-acre property in southeast Atlanta. He said that about 10 years ago, he started allowing four individuals to live on the property rent-free.

However, uninvited trespassers began living on his land at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The people who were living on the land started having other people live on the land, their friends," Morris recently told WAGA-TV.

Morris looked to the city of Atlanta for assistance in removing the squatters from his property. Unfortunately for the property owner, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed a halt to residential evictions starting in September 2020. The pandemic-mandated eviction moratorium in Georgia didn't end until October 2021.

At one point, as many as 30 trespassers were living on his property. He noted that there are now eight squatters on his land.

One of the squatters filed a $190,000 counter-claim against him. However, the case was dismissed because they did not show up in court.

About a year ago, Morris said the "entire medical staff" of the Stop Cop City activist movement was camped on his property.

Morris, who was living in California at the time, said Atlanta police officers detained more than 20 activists fighting against the construction of a $90 million police training center in Dekalb County's South River Forest.

This year, he was contacted by code enforcement demanding that he clean up his property. It has cost Morris thousands of dollars to clean up the mess left by squatters on his property.

"It's frustrating that I'm having to spend so much money. I spent $10,000 on cleaning up garbage from vagrants," Morris said.

He said he has gone through five dumpsters to haul away trash just in the past month.

Morris noted that he obtained a writ of possession on Friday.

"A writ of possession is a court order a landlord must obtain when they seek to terminate a tenant’s right to possession and the tenant will not vacate the premises voluntarily," explained Sharon Lewonski – partner and real estate practice chair at the Culhane Meadows Law Firm in Atlanta.

Morris said, "So, it will take, I am predicting, another thirty days before the marshals will call me to schedule a time for me to have five people here to move everything from there to the street."

He added, "We're going to build just a big fence here and a gate, and put no trespassing signs."

Despite all the issues with the trespassers, Morris said he intends to build affordable housing on his property for people in need.

However, Morris said he won't begin the affordable housing project until all of the squatters are off the property.

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Squatter sues Atlanta property owner for $190K | FOX 5 News www.youtube.com

Teen makes grisly find of mother's body stuffed in duffle bag; multi-state manhunt launched to nab squatters in alleged murder



Two squatters are suspected of carrying out a brutal murder of a woman in New York City, according to police. A multi-state manhunt has been launched to catch the suspected killers.

Nadia Vitel flew from Spain to New York City to prep the Manhattan apartment of her late mother so a family friend could move in, according to the New York Post. Vitel's mother passed away months ago, and her apartment had been vacant for about three to four months.

Investigators say Vitel went to her mother's apartment and was ambushed by two squatters living inside the unit. The suspects — a man and a woman — allegedly threw Vitel into a sheetrock wall.

"We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home ... and walked in on the squatters that were there," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

Kenny noted that the apartment in the Kips Bay neighborhood is "upscale."

"The apartment itself is very unique in that there’s no front door to apartment. You take an elevator up and then you key your way in. The elevator is actually your front door,” Kenny stated.

Paramedics pronounced Vitel dead at the scene.

The suspects allegedly stole Vitel's Lexus and drove to New Jersey and then Pennsylvania. Police located the crashed Lexus in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Vitel's teen son became worried about his mother after not hearing from his mother for two days and went to his grandmother's apartment on March 14. He believed his mother was at the apartment because they tracked each other's locations via a cellphone app.

Michael Medvedev, 19, went to the apartment with the building's superintendent and family members. Suddenly, the son made a grisly discovery.

Kenny explained, "As they’re getting ready to leave, the son opens up the closet door near the front door and discovers the duffel bag with a foot sticking out."

Inside the duffle bag was the dead body of Medvedev's mother.

Jean Pompee, the building's superintendent, told WCBS-TV, "The male pointed to the closet, he said he believed that there's a body in the bag. And all of her clothes were down, so you really couldn't see the bag. You could see partially, a little bit."

Officials said Vitel died from blunt force trauma to the head, suffered multiple facial fractures, a brain bleed, and two broken ribs.

A multi-state manhunt is underway to find the squatter suspects.

Police said the suspects visited several car dealerships in Pennsylvania after wrecking the Lexus and attempted to purchase a new vehicle for $1,000.

The NYPD said the suspects are a man and woman in their 20s. One of the squatters allegedly has a prior arrest.

"As of right now, we have probable cause, we have two subjects, we have the Regional Fugitive Task Force actively hunting as we speak,” Kenny said.

Squatters suspected of murder in luxury NYC building, putting woman in duffle bag | NBC New York www.youtube.com

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SHOCKING: Homeowner is ARRESTED for trying to evict squatters



If a squatter is defined as “a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land,” why do squatters have more freedom than homeowners who lawfully purchase property?

While it seems utterly ludicrous and illogical on every level, that’s unfortunately what’s happening all over the country.

“So a homeowner stopped by to check on his suburban-Atlanta property, only to be arrested for trespassing,” reports Pat Gray.

To make matters worse, this homeowner, Tim Arco, “encountered a stranger waving a gun in his face ... a prostitute, a bunch of dogs in the back, [and his] fence broken down.”

“After dialing 9-1-1 to report the intrusion, Arco was astonished to find himself being arrested and taken into police custody.”

But it gets even worse — this incident occurred six months ago. The squatters are still living on Arco’s property, despite the fact that two people have now died from drug overdose inside the residence.

And yet somehow, it gets even worse.

“Code enforcement has even cited Arco, the property owner, for not properly maintaining the house he legally can't access!” Pat exclaims in utter disbelief.

“That this can happen in America is unconscionable,” he says, adding “for some reason the homeowners have virtually no rights in these matters.”

After months of court battles, Arco has finally been told that he will regain his property — at some point. Unfortunately, an eviction has still not happened.

And while we wish Arco’s situation were an isolated incident, it’s unfortunately one of many.

Pat reads the story of Dahlia Dower, a U.S. Army officer who returned from active duty to find her $500,000 home inhabited by a squatter with “gun, drug, and theft charges.”

Dower was told by law enforcement that they could not evict the squatter, as the situation was a “civil matter.”

“Had I not been serving my country, I would have been in my home,” Dower said.

“I am so angry for these homeowners,” adds Keith.


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'Get the f*** out of my house!' Florida man reportedly hides in closet to catch squatter living in his house for months, scares off intruder with warning shot



A Florida man reportedly returned from an extended trip to New Zealand to find a man squatting in his house. The armed homeowner said he hid in the closet to catch the squatter and fired his gun to scare off the intruder when he wouldn't leave.

An unnamed homeowner visited New Zealand for seven months and returned to his home in Ocala, Florida. The man allegedly noticed that his electric bill had gone up while he was overseas but didn't think much of it. Then when he returned home on June 9, the man said he saw that his door was ajar.

The home was reportedly trashed inside. He also realized that some items had been stolen, including guns, an electric scooter, tools, his Social Security card, and the deed to his house. He notified police that his home had been robbed.

The man said that he felt like someone had been living there while he was away. Concerned about a possible squatter, the homeowner slept inside a closet with his handgun in case someone returned.

"I open my eyes, and here’s this guy at the bedroom door, looking straight down at me," the homeowner told WOFL. "I freaked. I jumped up with my pistol and said get the f*** out of my house!"

The trespasser allegedly told the homeowner that he was the intruder.

The homeowner recalled the man telling him, "'You don’t belong here, you don’t own this house! This house has been vacant for three years.'"

The homeowner replied, "Get the f*** out of my house!"

The purported home intruder allegedly said, "You can’t do that, you’re going to jail! I’m going to call police!' I said, ‘Go, good, call police.’ And he did."

When the alleged home intruder refused to leave the house, the homeowner fired a warning shot into the bottom left corner of the front door, according to the affidavit.

The alleged home intruder then fled from the house.

The homeowner contacted the Marion County Sheriff's Office, officers of which later arrested 26-year-old Ze’Moye Brown.

Brown reportedly told investigators that he had been living at that house for "a few months," and he was the only one staying there. He allegedly said in the interview that the house had been vacant for three years and that the windows and doors were unlocked. Brown claimed that he didn't steal any of the items.

When deputies searched Brown, they found a rock-like substance in his pants pocket, which later tested positive for methamphetamine. He also is accused of possessing a small baggy of marijuana.

When police asked the homeowner if he wanted to press charges against Brown, he suggested only trespassing charges.

He told police, "I said, ‘I don’t want the guy to go to jail. He reminds me of my son, in a way. Tall, skinny, too smart for his own good, and dumb as a bag of rocks at the same time."

Brown was charged with misdemeanor trespassing, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and felony possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Brown is being held on $4,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court on July 11.


Ocala homeowner slept in closet awaiting squatter who trashed his home www.youtube.com

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Squatters fling feces, brick at homeowner, cause $38k in property damage; claim they were the victims



A pair of female squatters in a Florida home caused $38,000 in property damage and threw human feces into the homeowner's car, the New York Post reported.

"It's terrifying," said property co-owner Patti Peeples in an interview with Fox News Channel's Todd Pirro on "Fox and Friends First."

"The imbalance between a squatter's rights versus the property owner or the landlord's rights are really out of whack. So that creates all kinds of feelings of having no empowerment in the situation."

Peeples and co-owner Dawn Tiura suspect the two women and two toddlers, along with a pit bull and several puppies, got into the Jacksonville rental home in March around the time the former tenants were leaving. The squatters illegally occupied the home for 40 days while the co-owners worked their way through the complex legalities of evicting them, WJXT reported.

In one altercation, Peeples says the squatters threw human feces into the open window of her car. They also threw a brick at the car, damaging it, Fox News Digital reported.

The squatters, one of whom was reportedly involved in a nearly identical situation a month earlier, claimed she was a victim of a Zillow rental scam in which she paid a false landlord, in cash, for rent, a security deposit, and a pet deposit, the outlet also reported.

"They are simply going from property to property to property and getting free room and board in segments of 20 or more days," Peeples said, adding that the police cannot help because these sorts of situations are handled by the courts.

A clip shared on Fox News Channel's "Lawrence Jones Cross Country" shows one of the female squatters wielding what appears to be a tire iron. "So you must want me to take this and break your phone," she says, as another woman gently reaches for the iron, possibly in an attempt to deescalate the situation.

"We called our attorney to see what our rights were. And he indicated that this had progressed now to grand theft and a criminal matter," Peeples told WJXT.

Peeples says the squatters' knowledge of how to work the legal system allowed them to take control of her and co-owner Dawn Tirua's home.

A handyman the owners sent in to make repairs before an inspection for a potential sale tipped them off that the property had been overtaken, the Post explained. The owners say the handyman spotted a pit bull mother and several puppies in the sun porch.

Damage to the home included smashed windows and walls, ruined carpet which had been put in just weeks earlier, broken cabinets and toilets, and scattered fecal matter from the dogs.

Watch Fox News Channel's "Lawrence Jones Cross Country" segment featuring owners Patti Peeples and Dawn Tirua's struggle to rid their property of squatters below.



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