‘Somebody straight up ruined this house:’ Apparent vandalism reported in new rental-community in SJC
A new rental community has become the apparent target of vandals. A man set to move into the neighborhood contacted Action News Jax after discovering someone had intentionally flooded one of the homes under construction.
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Michael Gunter was bringing his parents by his soon-to-be rental home in the Hammock Oaks neighborhood this weekend when he noticed something odd at one of the homes under construction.
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“This particular house had water coming down the driveway,” said Gunter.
He went inside to investigate further and started filming on his phone.
“Somebody straight up ruined this house,” said Gunter in the video as he waded through standing water in the home.
The entire home was flooded.
Gunter said it appeared intentional.
Read: Vandalism at a downtown apartment complex leaves some tenants feeling unsafe
“Every single faucet was on. All the drains were plugged,” said Gunter.
Gunter said after speaking with neighbors, he learned this wasn’t an isolated incident.
“This was one of three different houses in the neighborhood that the same exact thing had happened to,” said Gunter.
We reached out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, but were told the agency had no record of the apparent-vandalism.
Neighbor Steven Sorrenta told us he’d heard rumors vagrants had been seen squatting in some of the vacant homes under construction.
When we told him about the recent vandalism, he said it raised alarms.
“Just for the safety of my family, you know, what’s happening here at night. There’s no security here,” said Sorrenta.
The homes in the neighborhood are all owned by American Homes 4 Rent.
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When we contacted the company, we were told it was unaware of the apparent vandalism.
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