Post by Modesto Anarcho on Sept 29, 2007 14:59:29 GMT -5
Homeless man arrested in court's house
mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=28&SubSectionID=58&ArticleID=54510&TM=57471.23
Glenn Kahl
Reporter
Two Manteca Superior Court branch employees got an unexpected surprise when they attempted to enter a house at 205 Sherman Avenue used by the court to store office supplies shortly before noon on Friday.
The house is located just east of the Manteca Superior Court on Center Street.
The women said they found the front door blocked and they called for court bailiffs. After calling police the court deputies stood outside the house - one in the front and the other in the back - until Manteca officers arrived.
Police arrived to find a broken rear window and noticed a bicycle parked inside the kitchen area. They said the house was full of cigarette smoke.
Officers along with canine "Spike" entered through a garage access door to find a homeless man, Douglas Lemke, 40, hiding in an office area next to a filing cabinet in the front of the house.
"Spike's" barking could be heard on the street outside as police handcuffed the man and led him out the front door to a police car.
Lemke told police he found the front door unlocked and went in to find shelter for the night. The electricity and the water were both on in the house.
His bail was set at $65,000 for charges of felony burglary and a felony for a petty theft with prior jail time.
Manteca has had a number of incidents of transients living in vacant homes as well as gang members partying in homes. The vacant homes range from 55-year-old tract homes to so-called McMansions built two years ago with 4,000 plus square feet.
There are more than 80 homes in Manteca in foreclosure and a number of others in short sales. Most of those homes are vacant. A growing number of homes in the first steps of the foreclose process also aren't being maintained and landscaping as been allowed to die. There are also cases of investors who own homes but haven't rented them for an extended period letting the landscaping die.
Manteca officials are working with Ripon and San Joaquin County to develop an ordinance aimed at forcing property owners - or mortgage holders - to maintain the property.
mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=28&SubSectionID=58&ArticleID=54510&TM=57471.23
Glenn Kahl
Reporter
Two Manteca Superior Court branch employees got an unexpected surprise when they attempted to enter a house at 205 Sherman Avenue used by the court to store office supplies shortly before noon on Friday.
The house is located just east of the Manteca Superior Court on Center Street.
The women said they found the front door blocked and they called for court bailiffs. After calling police the court deputies stood outside the house - one in the front and the other in the back - until Manteca officers arrived.
Police arrived to find a broken rear window and noticed a bicycle parked inside the kitchen area. They said the house was full of cigarette smoke.
Officers along with canine "Spike" entered through a garage access door to find a homeless man, Douglas Lemke, 40, hiding in an office area next to a filing cabinet in the front of the house.
"Spike's" barking could be heard on the street outside as police handcuffed the man and led him out the front door to a police car.
Lemke told police he found the front door unlocked and went in to find shelter for the night. The electricity and the water were both on in the house.
His bail was set at $65,000 for charges of felony burglary and a felony for a petty theft with prior jail time.
Manteca has had a number of incidents of transients living in vacant homes as well as gang members partying in homes. The vacant homes range from 55-year-old tract homes to so-called McMansions built two years ago with 4,000 plus square feet.
There are more than 80 homes in Manteca in foreclosure and a number of others in short sales. Most of those homes are vacant. A growing number of homes in the first steps of the foreclose process also aren't being maintained and landscaping as been allowed to die. There are also cases of investors who own homes but haven't rented them for an extended period letting the landscaping die.
Manteca officials are working with Ripon and San Joaquin County to develop an ordinance aimed at forcing property owners - or mortgage holders - to maintain the property.