SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It took a fire, repeated 911 calls and a lawsuit, but Friday evening, a home that was taken over by squatters in North Park was finally empty of unwanted residents and the mounds of trash they left behind.
Team 10 senior investigator Jim Avila has been following through on this story for more than a month; he's here to tell us about what neighbors are hoping is the final chapter of this ordeal.
Clean up crews wore hazmat suits as they loaded truckloads of trash, and police increased patrols in the area to make sure the "no trespassing" signs were obeyed.
It's been a long time coming, and neighbors told ABC 10News they're cautiously grateful.
Nearly two months of drama wrapped up as the owner of tandem properties on Dale Street in North Park was forced to help police evict squatters and clean up the mess that has plagued this quiet neighborhood of families and children.
"It is nice to know that they're boarded up, and there's an incredible reduction in the amount of people that are going in," says Andy Laub, one of the neighbors who has been vocal about the issue from the start.
10News' first story on the squatter homes came in early July, as neighbors frustrated with the lack of city or police response spray painted the fence with their bright red complaint of criminal activity inside, locking the gates and blocking entrances.
"Somebody at least needs to make it a pain in the butt to get into these homes," says Laub.
Then, a community meeting was held in which police told them they were doing everything they could without cooperation from the owner, who refused to sign the paperwork needed to allow police to evict and arrest the squatters.
Frustrations boiled over.
"We're at the point of having to move our family from the block," Natalie Laub says.
"My hope is that the filing of the lawsuit will spark action," says attorney Scott Miller.
But the real action happened Tuesday: A fire changed everything.
"The flames were up over the top of the roof, and it's like 3 feet from my kitchen window," Christi Nail, who lives next door, says.
It was the fire that sparked action, literally. Police ordered the owner, who tried to hide from 10News' cameras, to post the no trespassing signs, board up all entrances and finally sign the paperwork to allow officers to evict squatters and clean up the mess inside.
Before the cleanup, one of the neighbors shared a video with us of the squalor inside.
"Just every room in the house had so much drug paraphernalia, trash, bicycle parts," Adam Cook, the owner of a bar nearby, says. "There was like sleeping bags and blankets and it's... I mean, it's uninhabitable to you and I. It was just disgusting."
Which brings us to today, our fourth follow up story; the weary and way neighbors hope this is the beginning of the end.
"We would be thrilled to have real tenants paying rent and taking care of properties living in these places," Nail says.
The owner has promised to take that next and final step. 10News will be watching, ready to follow through.
