One arrested when police clear squatters from vacant Athens property
- Classic City News
- Aug 16, 2024
- 1 min read
By Joe Johnson
Police on Thursday arrested one of two homeless people who were squatting on vacant property in eastern Athens-Clarke County.
Dustin Sanford England, 43, was taken into custody because there was an arrest warrant on file in Banks County charging him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to police.
His companion, 40-year-old Victoria Elena Guerra, was was given a verbal warning for criminal trespass and released, police said.
The incident occurred on Thursday when officers went to a property on Spring Valley Road to investigate a complaint that people were trespassing there and littering the property with trash.
An incident report noted that when the officers arrived they found there a fire burning behind a brick house and saw someone in a second-floor window of a barn-like structure.
Guerra came out when ordered to by the officers, and England was arrested after he attempted to hide.
One of the officers recognized the pair from a previous encounter at a different vacant property, according the police report.
England was detained at the local jail until deputies from Banks County took custody of him on Friday.
He has a criminal history in Athens, including a 2017 conviction in a burglary case for which he completed probation two years ago.
Guerra has been previously arrested for felony shoplifting and misdemeanor obstruction, records show.
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