We often hear people saying that we shouldn’t mess with HOA members, and the truth is that some situations illustrate why they say so. Not long ago, a whole block in Phoenix, Arizona, was closed off by SWAT members and the Sheriff’s Office, as apparently, there was a squatter in one of the houses that belonged to the HOA. After many attempts to remove the person from the property, the Homeowners Association decided to call in the cavalry.
Redditor Chaddy300 shared the footage on the Phoenix subreddit, where we can see a whole block barricaded by SWAT and Sheriff’s Office agents. The video doesn’t provide much context, but fortunately, the comments in the post do.
According to some people living near this neighborhood, the person who got removed by the officers had been foreclosed on a mortgage they took out back in 2007. After that, someone purchased the property during a trustee sale, but the person refused to leave even after someone else became the rightful owner of the house. This inhabitant later attempted to use sovereign citizen tactics to stay in the building but was unsuccessful. The same person who provided the context claims that the individual also had problems with the HOA.
Some bystanders claim that the law enforcement officers involved in the situation even sent in a robot with a phone for negotiations. Still, it seems things escalated a bit, as there were signs of struggle while trying to remove those inside the house, which, according to some sources, were at least four.
In any case, many neighbors got scared after they saw all these police elements moving around, especially since many of them had tactical equipment, such as anti-bomb vests, and even what seemed to be grenade launchers. Fortunately, it seems no one, outside of those involved, was hurt, and the squatter was removed from that property in Arizona thanks to the intervention of the SWAT team.
Some comments noted that the whole operation seemed extreme for just a couple of people inside a house.
“That’s what I said. It seems excessive for an HOA dispute, no matter how verbally volatile,” said Darkflyer726 via Reddit.
“I have a feeling European police could handle the situation with two officers in high visibility vests and no guns,” commented CharlesP2009 via Reddit.
“Oh this is house is CRAZY”
Still, we don’t know how dangerous those inside might’ve been. So even if it looked excessive, we can’t argue against the results.
