Police officer and wife trash foreclosed home - $200K damage, charged with felony

[Liberal_in_LA]

picture of trashed home at link below

Ex-homeowners charged in house damage

October 1, 2010

By SARAH BURGE
The Press-Enterprise


In what could be a first in Riverside County, a former homeowner is charged with a crime in connection with damage to a property in foreclosure.

A San Diego police officer and his wife have been charged with a felony in the trashing of their six-bedroom tract home, which was in foreclosure, in the French Valley area of southwest Riverside County. From stones smashed off the facade to dye poured on carpets, the damage totaled $200,000, according to court records.

The extent of the damage and the "obvious malice" pushed the case into the realm of criminal behavior, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Hatfield said.

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Arthur Chang, a supervising deputy district attorney, said few cases involving damage to foreclosures have been submitted to the district attorney's office, probably because the lenders do not feel it's worth the effort.

"If it's a minor amount of damage, they'll sometimes just say it's the cost of doing business," he said.

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Tina Medrud, a credit union representative, went to inspect the home June 15 and discovered that it had been vandalized inside and out, court records show.

The two-car garage door was gone, along with gates, the flagstone patio and walkway. Some of the decorative facade had been smashed off the house and the outdoor fireplace. Walls throughout the home were sprayed with black paint. Among the items missing: air conditioners, decorative beams, countertops, cabinets, fixtures and woodwork. The stone floor in a hallway was destroyed. Wiring had been pulled from the walls and cut. Trees and bushes had been thrown into the damaged backyard pool.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_scharged02.14b94e7fc.html