Photos: May 15, 2010. "Injoiable Industries" sign went up on a house on Riverside Place in the past month.Thursday, I got an email from a Red Car Property neighbor, with photos of a County warning notice. Neighbors told of late night gay porn being made at this house on Riverside Place. The County had just placed trespass warning notices, sealing the entrances to the house yesterday.
Since it was twilight and the photos were dark, the neighbor followed up with additional photos today. The seals were broken since yesterday. The neighbor talked to neighbors and called the phone number on the County notice and spoke to Michael Enriquez in County Administration, reporting the broken seals.
Sadly, the elderly neighbor who owned and lived in the home since the days of the Red Car Trolleys, moved to a nursing home four years ago. When the house recently sold at County auction, neighbors thought the longtime owner passed away. It turns out, the homeowner is alive and under public guardian.
The County officially sold the property and is about to close escrow. Apparently, when the new owner went to do an inspection, he found squatters or remnants of squatters, and had the County board it up and remove the squatters' belongings last week.
Another neighbor witnessed the LAPD and another man breaking through a padlock on May 7. A few days ago, by chance, I reviewed the LAPD crime maps on the LAPD website and noticed a "residential burglary" on Riverside Place, reported May 7. I made a note to ask neighbors about it. Yet, when I checked the LAPD crime maps yesterday, while sending out a neighborhood watch notice, the May 7 burglary was missing. I guess the squatters called the police when their stuff was cleared out, and the paperwork has since caught up between the agencies.
Enriquez, the County administrator, said they had just boarded it up yesterday, May 13, at least a week since it had been reported as a squat. Clearly a paper notice is not enough to keep squatters out. If you see additional activity at the house, call the police, no one should be on the premises at his time.
