Adele Andaloro was arrested for trying to protect her family’s home she inherited from her parents when they died after a standoff with squatters who refused to leave. The 47 year old woman ended up in handcuffs after changing the locks on the Queens, New York home, valued at roughly $1 million.
The New York Post reports Andaloro claims the ordeal erupted when she started the process of trying to sell the home last month but realized squatters had moved in — and brazenly replaced the entire front door and locks.
Fed up, she said she went to her family’s home on 160th Street — with the local TV outlet in tow — on Feb. 29 and called a locksmith to change the locks for her.
A heated, caught-on-camera spat with the people occupying the house quickly unfolded.
The police were eventually called, and escorted two people off the property. Andaloro — who was armed with the deeds — was filmed entering the property after one of the apparent tenants left the front door open.
After changing the locks, a man who said he was leading the property — identified by the local outlet as Brian Rodriguez — returned and barged through the front door.
“You shouldn’t be trying to steal my house,” a furious Andaloro yelled at him during the caught-on-camera ordeal. Following a flurry of 911 calls, responding cops told Andaloro she had to sort the saga out in housing court because it was considered a “landlord-tenant issue.”
Andaloro was ultimately given an unlawful eviction charge because she had changed the locks and hadn’t provided a new key to the person staying there, the NYPD confirmed to The Post. She was slapped with a criminal court summons, cops added and said no other arrests or summonses were issued.
“By the time someone does their investigation, their work, and their job, it will be over 30 days and this man will still be in my home,” Andaloro said.
“I’m really fearful that these people are going to get away with stealing my home,” she added. The Postexplains that in New York City, a person can claim “squatter’s rights” after just 30 days of living at a property. Under the law, it is illegal for the homeowner to change the locks, turn off the utilities, or remove the belongings of the “tenants” from the property.