California squatters overtake abandoned mansion owned by son of Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton

Squatters have taken over an abandoned Los Angeles mansion belonging to the son of the Philadelphia Phillies owner while neighbors view the high-end property as an eyesore and are scared for their safety.The property located at 7571 Mulholland Drive in the posh Hollywood Hills has been left vacant for over a decade, a few years after John Powers Middleton — the only son of businessman John S.

Middleton — purchased the property, according to ABC 6.Squatters and taggers began breaking onto the empty premises over two years as taggers began leaving blasting their artwork all over the house.The vibrant colored graffiti features a deviously grinning heart character “standing” the entire height of the home surrounded by “tags” — or artists’ names and initials— all sprayed on in different fonts and colors.“Every time we call, the police will come and they’ll clear it out, and then within an hour or two, five more people are there and staying the night,” one neighbor told the outlet.

Residents in the ritzy neighborhood allege they were subjected to abuse while one suspected squatter attacked a homeowner with a “steel rebar and beer bottle.”Others claim the taggers are beginning to spread their work to other properties.“The guys who come tag, they’re tagging other houses on other properties,” Mateo Herrerros told NBC Los Angeles.“I [couldn’t] care less about this house.

It’s an abandoned house.The owner doesn’t care about it.

I don’t really care about it.It’s just the element it brings.”The younger Middleton purchased the mansion in 2012 but the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety declared the property a nuisance and issued an abatement order forcing the owner to build a fence and secure the property in Oct.

2022, NBCLA reported.Middleton failed to comply to the order, leading the city to erect a fence instead.The squatters and taggers still accessed the six-bedroom, 9,707-square-foot home.According to the listi...