HP Police Investigate Condo Ransacking
One Highland Park condo owner was on the receiving end of a messy – and expensive – bit of criminal mischief on March 28.
The condo, located at the 4500 block of Abbott Avenue, was under renovations and currently in the middle of being sanded and lacquered by a contractor before things turned ugly. Apparently upset by a perceived lack of payment, the contractor texted the condo owner that he “had a plan” to get even.
That plan included spreading lacquer over the entire living room and bedroom floors, and also stealing a $2,000 stove-top/oven combination unit, a $1,500 vent hood, a $100 vacuum valve, and three electrical outlets worth $20 a piece.
This wasn’t the first time the contractor had sent the owner a threatening text message; apparently upset with the agreed-upon payment structure, he began texting the owner the day before taking the appliances and spreading lacquer all over the condo.
The condo owner stated that she agreed to pay the contractor a sum of $800 over three installments while the work was being completed, including $135 up front. A meeting was even planned for March 29 where she would pay him another $165.
But the contractor, according to the owner, appeared “off” in his demeanor as the work progressed, and even skipped work one day the week prior and left the job site early another day. It was then that the threatening text messages began.
The condo owner was advised to change the locks on the condo during the now in-progress investigation.
