Valley Glen man fights off squatter living in his under construction home
A Valley Glen man is outraged after he had to fight off a squatter from inside of his own home that's currently under construction early Thursday morning.
Mike Martirosyan says that he was at the property to move some trash when he saw that a light on the second floor was on. He went upstairs and found that someone had been squatting inside of his home, for what he believes was several days without his knowledge.
"I knocked on it 2-3 times," Martirosyan recalled. "He didn't want to open, I told him I'll break the door if he didn't open. Once he opened and tried to attack me from inside I wrestled him down. I pulled him all the way downstairs."
He says that he had to hold the man, 35-year-old Tony Randal, down for several minutes until police arrived. Despite being arrested promptly by officers, Martirosyan says that he's already been released from custody after being booked for trespassing.
On top of the concerns that he now has for his safety, Martirosyan says that Randal left a huge mess behind.
"I don't feel good about it because all my tax payer money for nothing," he said. "I'm scared for my family's life, my own life."
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson tells KCAL News that trespassing is a misdemeanor offense, which means that any suspect will be cited and released, as long as they don't have any outstanding warrants.
Martirosyan says that this isn't the first time he's encountered Randal and that this shouldn't be happening again. The first time around he called police but they told him that since they didn't see the man on his property they couldn't do anything.
But Martirosyan says he chased Randal out of his property last month and called police.
