When you own a home, you probably feel as if you have the rights to the property at any time. That isn’t always the case, as one Georgia resident is learning.
When Loletha Hale went to her mother’s home in Georgia on December 9, she was there to do some spring cleaning. This was on the heels of a long fight with a squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson.
Sakemeyia Johnson had been ordered to move out of the property in mid-November but when Hale arrived in early December, Johnson was still there.
Hale described it in this way: “I returned on Monday to start painting and she had broken the locks at my property.
“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with her, and I locked the door. I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out.”
Hale stood her ground and when police arrived, the body cam footage showed the officer trying to reason with her and also to be empathetic toward Johnson.
The police officer said: “Just think of it from this perspective, though. Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen.”
It was a nice thought, but things started to escalate quickly and Hale got arrested. According to the police report, she shouted: ‘‘Leave before I get my gun’ to Johnson.
According to police, Hale also ‘executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings prior to being that contain.’
Hale spoke to a local news station, saying: “I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions. While this woman, this squatter, slept in my home.”
The police also informed the judge that Hale wasn’t allowed to out Johnson because she didn’t receive a ‘signed writ of possession’.
Johnson spoke to the police, saying: “She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with him, and I locked the door. I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out.
“I was written a citation saying I was a squatter. But a judge signed an order saying that I wasn’t a squatter.”
Hale then asked: “How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?”
Johnson has not been charged with any crimes.
