Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Home-Wrecker: Woman Doesn't Like Neighbors, Demolishes Their Home

When Ana Maria Moreta Folch had issues with her neighbors, she did what most of us would. Scratch that. She had their mobile home demolished.

The Florida Times-Union reports that the 62-year-old St. Johns County, Fla., resident "told a heavy equipment operator she owned the trailer on Dusty Road and wanted it and its septic tank destroyed." She told the contractor Monday that she had a key and that no one was living at the trailer. But the owner, Maria Gottfried, showed up when the demolition was underway and called the police.

Moreta Folch was charged with criminal mischief, which is a third-degree felony. She was released Wednesday on $10,000 bail.

Gottfried told police she'd owned the trailer since 2006. She denied having given Moreta Folch a key.

Here's more from the newspaper:

"The arrest report said Moreta Folch had the trailer bulldozed because people who had lived there were unsavory and she suspected they had broken into her car. She said she considered it a favor to her neighborhood."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.