Tenants attack landlords two separate incidents

Sometimes it’s dangerous to be a landlord.

To wit: In Opa-Locka, Fla., a tenant is facing charges after he allegedly shot a spear gun at his landlord, Local 10 Florida reports.

Joel Cruz, 42, was charged with aggravated battery, shooting or throwing a deadly missile, and criminal mischief after an exchange with his unnamed landlord.

Cruz, according to Opa-Locka police, did not hit the landlord with the spear, but did injure him in an incident during which Cruz broke a window with a rock and damaged a grill with a brick.

In Vallejo, Calif., an 80-year-old landlord was stabbed with a sword when he attempted to evict several tenants who allegedly hadn’t paid rent on the property located on the 600 block of 3rd Street in years, NBC Bay Area reports.

The landlord, Kurt Lind, survived the attack, which may have claimed one of his eyes, but he allegedly shot and killed one of his attackers and wounded another during the altercation.

“They’ve been here for three years and wouldn’t leave. It’s taken him a long time to get into court and get an eviction notice,” Patrick McMillan, a tenant, told the outlet. “They found out about the eviction notice and figured if they killed him they couldn’t be evicted.”

A couple of weeks before the attack, Lind went to court to evict the tenants, KTVU reported.

The tenants were upset when they found out and allegedly decided to attack Lind, the outlet reported.

Carl Lind, Kurt Lind’s son, said the tenants were taking advantage of his father.

“He just wanted this as a place to let artists or wood workers, electricians, to be able to come and live in a little trailer and have a container where they could work and put their tools and have a safe place,” Carl told NBC.

Neighbors told KTVU that they referred to the four people staying at the site as “The Cult,” due to their alleged odd behavior, which included walking around nude.

“What we have is a certain number of people who seem, how can I put this, seem a little bit off,” Clinton Davidson, a neighbor, told KTVU.

Vallejo police told NBC that one person was in custody, but they weren’t able to figure out that person’s identity.

It’s not the first time that a sword has been used in a dispute involving a landlord.

Several weeks ago a guest used a sword to stab to death a landlord disguised as the serial killer Michael Myers from the “Halloween” franchise. The landlord had allegedly entered the property where the guest was staying illegally.

— Ted Glanzer