Man arrested after trying to evict squatters from his own house
A man was left furious after finding that his property had been occupied by squatters.
Landlord Tim Arko, from DeKalb County, had gone to check on a rental property he owned in Atlanta after a previous tenant had moved out.
However, he had a nasty surprise when he entered the property to find that a group of squatters had moved in.
Arko was greeted not by the unoccupied property, but by a gun being waved in his face by a complete stranger.
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Arko fled the property, claiming that he had walked in on a scene of chaos including 'weapons' and 'a prostitute'. He then called the police to report the intrusion.
However, things took an unexpected turn when the squatters claimed that they were in fact the homeowners, and Arko was the one trespassing. As a result, he was arrested and taken into police custody.
Arko told WSB-TV: “I didn’t walk in on a family eating dinner. I walked in on weapons, a prostitute, a bunch of dogs in the back, my fence broken down.
“They told the police that I was a home invader and that it was their home. And so I ended up being arrested and detained.”
The landlord has since been trying to have the alleged squatters evicted from the property, but so far has been unsuccessful. He has even been fined by code enforcers who say that he is not maintaining the property, even though he currently unable to access it.
Tragically, in the six months two people have also been reported to have died from overdoses at the property.
After spending months processing an order through the courts system, an eviction order was finally signed for the address.
Arko's lawyer, John Ernst, said: "No one likes, you know, being in the court system, but it becomes even worse when it seems broken down."
Arko added: “I feel like it’s very heavily weighted towards these trespassers and criminals, not people that got duped."
After arresting him, police did not charge the landlord with any crime once he was able to prove that the property belonged to him.
Now that the notice has been granted, Arko is waiting on the marshals to carry out the eviction. He has reportedly been informed that the order will be carried out in early September.
Kit Roberts