ANTELOPE, Calif. — A fire in Antelope that destroyed one home and damaged another was just the latest issue for owners of the Country Run Way property.
ABC10 learned there was a history of major issues involving the people who were living there. A fellow neighbor, Conrad Robinson, called it “an ongoing horror show.”
According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded a total of 42 times to the home on Country Run Way in one year. That included calls for disturbances, reports of squatters and even a missing person.
On Wednesday, moments after the fire broke out, deputies were called out once again, this time by firefighters responding to the fire.
They say a fight had broken out in front of the home and two people were detained and later released.
Later that same day, there was another fight in front of the home involving a knife.
Kevin Tolson was arrested and booked into Sacramento County Jail, where he remains behind bars with a $1 million bail.
Dan Bmowski, a fellow neighbor, jumped into action the day of the fire, grabbing hoses and spraying down houses. He said it was unsettling that nothing else was done sooner to deter what happened.
Investigators say Sacramento County Code Enforcement went to the property on April 8 for an inspection and discovered the power had been shut off. Deputies had to be called because inspectors encountered two squatters.
Code Enforcement told ABC10 they have had many issues with this property as well, like excessive trash and substandard housing.
“The tenants have been a constant issue for this property and the property owner has been attempting to remove the current tenant who is under eviction. Additionally, the power has been disconnected and restored on a number of occasions,“ officials said.
The homeowner’s son confirmed to ABC10 they had an issue with squatters and were in the process of taking legal action before the fire.
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District confirmed what neighbors say they’ve being seeing for the past year. There were at least 15 people living in the house.
Neighbor Ray Moore says he hasn’t opened his garage in a year after multiple items were been stolen in the neighborhood.
“Yelling and screaming up and down the street, fights, cops being here one or two times a week,” said Moore.
ABC10 reached back out to the landlord with the new information, but were sent straight to voicemail. Metro Fire says they have several people of interest in the arson investigation.
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