A deployed soldier got quite surprised when he discovered squatters had taken over his Florida home.
For months the scene at a soldier’s Florida home was a wild one: People and cars coming and going constantly, dogs running around unleashed, noise, strange characters, and a big cage of chirping birds to boot.
The squatters, Julio Ortiz and Fatima Cardosa took this as a perfect opportunity to break into the building, move themselves and their two dogs into Sharkey’s home, change the locks, and refuse to leave.
What’s more, they were ex-convicts with 14 years of prison time between them. In fact, Ortiz was arrested three times in Pasco County last year on minor charges while Cardoso got busted there seven times on drug charges since 2011.
“They are criminals,” says the soldier, Army Spc. Michael Sharkey, who was deployed to Afghanistan two years ago and then stationed in Hawaii. But a Florida real estate law prevented him from reclaiming his house because the squatters had established residency. “I am serving my country, and they have more rights to my home than I do,” he says.
Sharkey was told that because Ortiz and Cardosa had “taken up residency,” the only way to get the pair to leave and get his home back was to take the matter to civil court.
This story very quickly made its way through the social media grapevine and onto the Facebook page of WFLA which first reported the story. Residents were horrified and the general consensus was that something should be done about it.
That’s when a group of military veteran bikers took swift action. Since the police did not help Sharkey when he needed them, this renegade biker gang figured they give it a shot.
The biker gang visited Ortiz and Cardosa to “peacefully make the squatters uncomfortable.” And it worked!
Ortiz and Cardosa fled the scene almost immediately. They packed up their belongings and left the home for good.
Sharkey and his wife were so grateful to the group of military veteran bikers. They had saved the day and stepped up to the plate when the government and the police force had let Sharkey down.
Watch the video report below:
Sources: OpposingViews, WFLA