No words strike as much fear into many peoples’ hearts as “We’re with the government, we’re hear to help.” For example and innocent man had the state “help” him perform “repairs” to his property:
Two years ago today, Joe Del Rio was awakened to find city officials at the door of his lifelong home in East Austin, demanding entry. Before it was over, the Police Department’s SWAT team and the Fire Department had been deployed, and Del Rio said he was detained and questioned for about 10 hours because of what officials called a multilevel bunker-like space under the house with suspicious and unusual materials.
After the city billed Del Rio in April for about $90,000 in repairs it said were critical to make the home on Canterbury Street safe, Del Rio sued the City of Austin last week for what his lawyers say was a heavy-handed and unconstitutional seizure of his property without compensation.
Let me get this straight, a SWAT team stormed this man’s property, detained and questioned the man, and performed “repairs.” I wonder what kind of repairs were performed:
Del Rio also said officials concreted in the basement, fenced and locked the perimeter of the home and removed utility meters, making the house, in its current state, uninhabitable. The suit says that at the time of the seizure, Travis Central Appraisal District records put the house’s reasonable fair market value at upward of $172,000.
I guess if you have an insanely twisted mind filling a basement with concrete could qualify as a repair.