Seller’s Remorse: Man Accused Of Attempting To Steal Neighbor’s Home
Oct 18, 2019, 10:52 PM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — A Utah man faces a list of charges after police said he offered to buy his neighbor’s house for $90,000 and then broke into the home and changed the locks when the owner refused to sell.
Neighbors told KSL TV that no one currently lives at the home in the Ballpark neighborhood of Salt Lake City. But according to charging documents, the man who lives next door broke into the home several times, told other neighbors he had permission to move in and even delivered a truckload of wood chips to the home.
It began on August 30 when a neighbor reported seeing “a belligerent person” inside and removing items from the home. The responding officer made contact with 25-year-old Andrew Blackwell and told him not to re-enter the home or “make modifications to the home or he would be considered trespassing.”
But the next day, another officer responded to the same home after a neighbor reported that a man had broken in.
The front window was open and there were tools on the front porch. According to documents, Blackwell “admitted that he had been at the home earlier working on the yard and had opened the window to allow the house to ventilate.”
He acknowledged officers had already told him not to return to the home and that he did not have permission to be there.
Weeks later on September 11, police responded to a “possible burglary” at the same house and found a broken window, a refrigerator on the front porch and new deadbolts on three doors that lead outside.
Documents stated Blackwell admitted to cutting down trees and bushes in the yard of the home.
He “further admitted that he had written a letter to the owner…stating he wanted to purchase the property for $90,000,” according to the officer’s statement.
When he did not hear back from the owner, Blackwell reportedly found out where the owner lived and went to her home. She told police that “he was threatening to her” and “had stated that he would forge any document needed to get the home from her.”
KSL TV went to Blackwell’s home. A man answered the door but would not answer any questions about the case or whether or not he was Blackwell.
The charging documents stated the “defendant does not have a criminal history but his behavior is troubling and with the escalation in his behavior…the State believes that a warrant in the amount of $10,000 is needed to ensure the safety of the victims and witnesses in the case.”
