Minn. Department of Corrections Photo
It turns out Junaid wasn't very far away at all. This weekend I was...
...house sitting at Peter and Joy's residence, chilling out with my kid playing video games most of the time, when I noticed a vehicle pull up in front of 3024 6th Street North, the place where Junaid is registered to live but, apparently, isn't actually there very often.
The building is foreclosed and past the period of redemption, so the official word from the Hawthorne Area Community Council was: "If you see anybody there, they are trespassing, call the cops."
Given the late hour, and how quickly the vehicle killed its lights, I honestly thought it might be a bunch of fixture thieves. (I didn't take them so much for copper thieves, because the vehicle was too new and nice, but more on THAT later, since the situation with the vehicle is a whole new twist) When I saw one of the vehicle occupants entered the house with a key I thought, "Oh, that would be old tenants--perhaps even Junaid--but they're trespassing and therefore, I'll call the cops."
Call the cops I did, and the cops came relatively quickly. I saw them questioning the individuals, mostly the black female who was with the guy who looked like Junaid or his twin brother. The dispatcher called me back and explained: "These are the people who are residents of the house. Unless there is some kind of official paper on the house saying nobody can be there, we're not going to make them leave."
Like a good neighborhood activist, I got on my laptop computer and fired off emails. The next day the same vehicle came again, and I could see Junaid (or his twin brother) was actually MOVING INTO the place where, according to the sex offender locator, he had been all along. Apparently the foreclosure and passing of the redemption period presented some kind of opportunity--low hanging fruit, shall we say?--and Junaid was seizing his chance. (What else would you expect from a child molester?)
So who has Junaid now? It seems like the mortgage company has now become responsible for him as a tenant, though there is apparently no new rental license to cover the change in ownership. One assumes there is a period of time where a transition is allowed, and there is time to get a new license though, honestly, I don't even know if the water is on in that house. Water has been turned off in that house before.
These are things we are dealing with, and the city has been notified. Jeff Skrenes of the Hawthorne Area Community Council is working on it, but for good measure I called 311. The 311 operator read me the name of the former owner from the property registration, and I told her, "No, he is no longer the owner. He might be listed, but the property is foreclosed and past the period of redemption."
The City of Minneapolis may find it a low priority to get property ownership updated in its system, to get deeds registered and so forth, yet it is amazing how often we who are struggling to turn the neighborhood around are thwarted by our inability to find correct and current information on who owns what.
In any case, I got this new problem into the 311 system, I sent out emails, and Jeff Skrenes of HACC is also on top of the situation.
The next day, as Junaid (or his twin brother) and the female (his sister? his girlfriend?) removed stuff from the dark green minivan, I noticed the van was a company vehicle, bearing a prominent company logo. I thought to myself: either the female is using a company vehicle to help a Level 3 Sex Offender move his stuff, or (a much scarier possibility) this company has given Junaid (who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a young female stranger) access to a company vehicle. In this case, a minivan with dark-tinted windows.
Very comforting, that. The choice of vehicle, I mean. (Sarcasm font is broken, I will have to notify you here manually)
I speak as a bleeding heart liberal, here, but in Grand Forks, North Dakota I saw what harm could come of giving a Level 3 sex offender access to a vehicle, even if it's perfectly legal. Alphonso Rodriguez kidnapped and killed Dru Sjodin after his own dear sweet mama gave him a car to go to work.
In fact, I've talked to Bob Heales by email about this situation. Bob is the private investigator who was so involved in coordinating the search for Dru Sjodin's body and still does a lot to raise consciousness about issues involving sex offenders running around loose; like the one who killed Dru Sjodin. Click here for a link to his website.
Heales told me this: "It takes people like you to bring attention to the problem. I'm afraid there are many of these cowards who don't register their correct address. They are a ticking time bomb. The Mary Ann Wowatts (Junaid's supervising officer) of the world need to take the situations more seriously. Level 3s are the most likely to re-offend, and their crimes become increasingly more violent. You have to wonder who is next on his list?"
As somebody who does a lot of commercial driving on the side to make spare cash, I know this well: a vehicle gives you power. It is, in fact, more powerful than a gun. I don't worry about sex offenders getting access to guns. I worry about them getting access to vehicles which they will use to kidnap, transport, flee, etcetera. I don't think Level 3 Sex Offenders should be allowed to drive, at least not until they are completely out of the system through years of compliance with their supervised release. I say this based on what happened to Dru Sjodin.
There, I've said it, and though it makes me look like a red-stater, there it is. Giving a registered sex offender access to a vehicle is worse than handing that person a gun. In this case, the vehicle in question is used for employees to go to many places to make pick-ups and deliveries, and there is no reason places like elementary schools and daycare centers would be excluded.
I contacted the company which has its name on the vehicle with my concerns after getting the license plate and, of course, taking a picture of the vehicle. They sent me a polite email--cc'd to a whole slough of people at the company--and promised to get back to me. Later, they did get back to me. In fact, the CEO got back to me. They are meeting about this matter on Monday. Something was said to the effect Junaid somehow slipped through their background checking system, and the CEO asked me for some info about him.
I was, like, "Google the words 'Minnesota' and 'sex offender' and you'll find links to their names rather quickly, his among them." I'm looking forward to speaking with the CEO on Monday, but it will be mostly academic. They already told me the situation with the vehicle: Junaid owns the vehicle, but their name is on it because he works for their company. As much as I could pick up any tone from brief emails, this much is true: the CEO is not a happy camper. I sure hope nobody's head rolls but Junaid's.
Like I told the CEO: sex offenders are manipulative and deceptive by their very nature.
I can't help but wonder what Junaid told his supervising officer (Mary Ann Mowatt) about his employment situation. Did he tell Mowatt the employer knew he was a Level 3 sex offender? Because that's not what I'm hearing from the employer. And I really don't see how it would be possible to get this particular job without telling at least one fib about having a criminal record. Job applications tend to ask, quite broadly, about stuff like felonies.
Oh, I really must find out the name of the mortgage company. They will be delighted to learn they have a Level 3 Sex Offender living at a property they own, and apparently no rental license. Will they run out and get a rental license just to help dear sweet Junaid keep a roof over his sex offender head?
I kind of doubt it.
That house at 3024 6th Street North is supposed to be vacant. Nobody--including a piece of crap Level 3 sex offender--is supposed to be living there.
It's my neighborhood, and I am on it. I don't take any pleasure in it. In fact, I sincerely think sex offenders, if they are going to be allowed to be paroled, should have useful jobs mopping floors and washing dishes. I don't delight in it, but like I once inadvertently blurted out to Jeff Skrenes:
"Somebody needs to break a few omelets to make some eggs around here."
9 comments:
Johnny,
What is it exactly that you do in north Minneapolis? I see that you have gone wild with your blogging about your adventures but, are you a resident? I know you own a house in Hawthorne but, you don't live in it do you? When will you be moving into it?
I ask because I feel you may better serve the community as a resident versus a voice of the community.
I am not wanting to challenge you but, you would be a more effective (at least I would take you more seriously) voice if, you knew more about what you are talking about.
Allow me to connect some of the dots;
1) I don't know why the community council told you to call the police to report trespassing. Unfortunately, it is not trespassing. It would be if there were "no trespassing" signs posted on the property but, even then the police can't charge the person(s) because it is not public property. The dispatcher even stated that unless there is something saying that nobody can be there, they won't tell them to leave. The police should have got their information and notified the owner.
2) You are correct with your assumption of the tenant taking advantage of an opportunity.
The sex offender is not really a tenant. He is moving in as a "squatter." Now that the lender has ownership and control of the house, they would have likely listed the house on MLS if it was vacant. The presence of a squatter means that they will now have to legally evict him and that takes time and money. The squatter knows the lender will offer him cash AKA Cash for Keys, to move which will cost them less than an eviction.
The squatter knows exactly what the game is and is only there to get his $500 to $1000.
The Lender would never pursue a rental license as they do not wish to be property managers. They want it empty regardless if the squatter is a sex offender or not.
3) The City does not have a system to update, as you said. The system you are talking about is operated by the County. The City may offer ownership information but, the official information originates from the County.
I do commend you for keeping after a Level 3 offender but, I am wanting to know who is responsible for notifying neighborhood residents? They are required to register with an address but, is it the City, the County or the Police who are required to notify area residents?
I ask because it would seem that someone has not done their job and that seems to somehow encourage residents or "voices" to become vigilantes.
-North Resident
Good for you Johnny. I can't wait to hear what happens to the pig.
In response to the first poster:
1.) I'll tell you all about the house in Hawthorne when it is time to do that, and it will be time in the very near future. How about I tell you Thursday? Check back on Thursday and I'll tell you something about that.
2.) Something can still be trespassing even if there aren't "no trespassing" signs posted. People are charged with trespassing all the time without any "no trespassing" signs being involved.
3.) Interesting point about the cost of an eviction and the "cash for keys." Hmmmmm.
4.) There is nothing "more official" about the ownership information on the county website versus the city website. Both are official sources of information and both are severely in need of being updated more quickly.
There is also a problem with the way both websites can't be searched by, for example, owner name to see what 39 properties may be owned by the same person who has a habit of neglecting his/her properties.
5.) In the past, I've talked to the person responsible for supervising Junaid (Mary Ann Mowatt) and she comes off like a sex offender sympathizer. I've written about it in a previous entry.
Junaid's FORMER employer (more on that in a future entry) spoke to her today (Monday) and had the same impression.
If somebody is not doing their job, it would be Mary Ann Mowatt, who is responsible for supervising Junaid. Thanks for the encouragement to keep on top of this situation. Like I needed encouragement! Ha ha.
6.) Vigilante? Moi? I am nothing but a prolific blogger and a good citizen. What am I doing? Pressing on the keyboard too hard? How little it takes in this modern age to be called a "vigilante."
Keep fighting the good fight, Johnny, and congratulations one your sucesses.
Actually, as a licensed peace officer I can tell you that you are not trespassing on private property until someone has told you to leave or if there is some kind of sign saying you shouldn't be there. As for a dwelling, you don't have to be told to leave to be trespassing. If you are in a dwelling that you have no legal right to be in without consent then you are trespassing. In this case, if he had keys and hadn't been told he couldn't live there anymore then he wouldn't be trespassing by being in the house. I am not all defending this guy and his crimes, I am just letting you that in this case the neighborhood association was wrong to tell you that he was trespassing.
Well, I am hesitant to say the neighborhood association was wrong to tell us to call police if we saw somebody at a vacant building. Everybody had left that building and was gone. The sex offender literally moved back in. I was watching as he unloaded stuff from his van.
And we still don't know what he was told about living there.
Calling the police like the neighborhood association told us to do allowed us to find out what the situation was because the police questioned the folks who were at the (supposedly) vacant building.
If a building is supposed to be vacant and then one day people are at the building who look suspicious...I think it's better to call the police than NOT call the police.
As of today...we're still working on this one. Calls are being made. It's very hard to find people willing to be the individual taking responsibility for a vacant house with a sex offender who has moved back inside. But I'm confident we're going to win. Thanks for your interest.
I don't understand what you are wanting to "win?"
Okay, I know you and all of us actually, want the guy to go away but, I am inclined to side with the first person who commented.
I have heard about banks paying people to vacate after they have foreclosed as well.
While I don't want to appear as though I am defending a sex offender, I think people are doing right by keeping an eye on him and it won't be long before the bank gives him some money to go elsewhere.
My attention at this point is better utilized by watching the other violent element in the area.
I do thank those of you who have put your watch onto that person.
Over here in Saint Paul, we've been instructed by the Police, mind you, to call 911 when we see anyone messing with a vacant property--signs or no signs. And that is, of course, a sign of the times: There are simply too many thefts and too much damage going on at those properties. As we all know, the City can't be everywhere at every moment--it needs the watchful eyes of its citizens to report suspicious behavior.
Johnny, I read, nay, glean your blog daily. Your experience offers me insight, hope and fuel for my own resistance to general thuggery in my neighborhood. I commend your commitment to both your neighborhood and this blog.
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