A homeowner in Clayton County, Georgia was reportedly arrested and charged with criminal trespassing after she attempted to move back into her own home, which was taken over by a squatter earlier this year.
The homeowner, Loletha Hale, told WSB-TV Atlanta, “I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions. While this woman, this squatter slept in my home.”
Reportedly, on Dec. 9, police officers and Sheriff’s deputies were called to Hale’s home in Livingston. Hale was at the house to clean it up after a judge ruled in her favor in a legal battle with the squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson, according to the New York Post.
The ordeal began in August when Hale reported the squatter to police. Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Latrevia Lates-Johnson ruled that “Sakemeyia Johnson is not a squatter” because she is related to a previously evicted tenant’s partner.
“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Hale reportedly said.
Following this, there was a court battle that went on for months, WSB-TV noted. After many hearings, appeals, and filings, a magistrate judge issued a final judgment in Hale’s favor on Nov. 18.
When Hale came to the house in December, she was under the impression that the squatter had moved out. Reportedly, that was not the case.
“I returned on Monday to start painting and she had broken the locks at my property,” Hale said.
Johnson told police that Hale arrived “out of nowhere” and showed up with a guy, adding that “he forced himself in telling us to get out.”
In the camera footage from Dec. 9, a deputy can reportedly be heard telling Hale to see the situation from the illegal squatter’s perspective.
“Just think of it from this perspective, though. Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen,” the deputy said to Hale.
And, in the incident report, the responding deputy reportedly wrote that Hale “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings.”
Officers confirmed to the outlet that Hale had not obtained a signed writ of possession in order to legally evict the squatter. And, a cell phone video reportedly showed Hale stating, “leave before I get my gun.”
“To see that woman walk into my mom’s house while I was in the police car, something is wrong with this picture. Something is inherently wrong with this picture,” Hale told the outlet. She was charged with criminal trespassing and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats.
Reportedly, the squatter has not been charged with a crime.
Chief Magistrate Judge Keisha Wright Hill shared a statement with WSB-TV, stating that “A timetable for the resolution of this matter cannot be given by the Clayton County Magistrate Court, as the tenant filed a timely appeal to the Superior Court of Clayton County. Any timelines would have to be addressed by Superior Court.”
“The previous delay in this matter was a result of the tenant filing bankruptcy, which resulted in an automatic stay of the proceeding.” the statement read.
INSANE. A Georgia homeowner was thrown in jail for criminal trespass after she called the police on a squatter in her home.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 22, 2024
A police officer told her to look at things from the squatter’s point of view because not everyone is as fortunate as her to have a bed. pic.twitter.com/g9mq98ywPr
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