A property manager was arrested after investigators concluded that he had allegedly shut off electricity to a tenant’s apartment while her two young children were home alone, leaving them frightened in the dark during an increasingly bitter housing dispute.
The bodycam footage, presented by the YouTube channel AllAboutCrime, followed a case that began on May 26, 2021, when deputies were called to an apartment building after the tenant reported ongoing harassment, unsafe living conditions, and an attempt to force her family from the property without going through a lawful eviction process.
The first responding officers initially viewed much of the conflict as a civil disagreement between a tenant who had stopped paying rent and a property manager who wanted her to leave. A later investigation, however, focused more closely on the loss of electricity, the condition of the apartment, and the tenant’s claim that her children had spent hours alone without power.
Tenant Says Problems Had Lasted for Months
The tenant told deputies that she had contacted code enforcement roughly three months earlier because of problems inside the apartment, including leaking ceiling tiles and cockroaches.
She said the conditions had continued since the previous November and that officials had opened an active case, inspected the building, and issued citations.
Because the problems remained unresolved, she stopped paying rent on May 1.
The woman also accused the property manager of repeatedly harassing her and listening to conversations through a room or space connected to her apartment. She said the situation had left her frightened and emotionally exhausted.
“I’ve been a nervous wreck for days now,” she told the responding officer.
The tenant said she had already contacted family court and criminal court while seeking an order of protection. According to her account, she was told that criminal charges or an arrest might be necessary before such an order could be issued.
At that stage, the responding deputy tried to identify which allegations involved possible crimes and which remained part of the landlord-tenant dispute.
That distinction mattered because poor conditions, unpaid rent, and disagreements over repairs are often addressed through housing agencies or civil court. Threats, harassment, or deliberate utility shutoffs may create separate criminal concerns depending on the evidence and applicable law.
Property Manager Says She Should Simply Leave
The officer separately questioned the property manager, who said the apartment belonged to his employer and had not been fully ready when the tenant moved in.
He claimed she had insisted on taking the unit before all repairs were completed and later stopped paying rent while building a case against him through code enforcement and police reports.
“She’s creating this ridiculous – just move out,” he said.
The manager denied harassing her and said he had never previously caused trouble at the property. He portrayed himself as the target of escalating complaints from a tenant who refused to pay.
The first deputy appeared sympathetic to parts of that argument and told him that, based on the information available at the time, officers had not yet identified a clear crime.
The manager repeatedly returned to the unpaid rent.
“You have two months of rent you haven’t paid,” he later said while speaking about the tenant. “Just leave.”
That may explain his frustration, but unpaid rent does not normally give a property manager the right to remove a family through intimidation or by disabling basic services. Eviction requires a legal process, not an improvised punishment designed to make a home unlivable.
Initial Officers Treat Much of the Dispute as Civil
When the deputy returned to the tenant, he asked directly what laws she believed the property manager had broken.
She identified the power shutoff first, then described threats, surveillance, interference with parking, and other actions she viewed as harassment.
The officer initially suggested that he understood why a landlord might become angry enough to shut off utilities when rent was not being paid.
“I understand where he is coming from by shutting off your power and stuff if you’re not paying his rent,” the deputy said.
The tenant insisted the manager knew she was withholding rent because of the unresolved conditions and code-enforcement case.
The officer continued to describe most of the disagreement as civil, advising her to work with code enforcement, a civil attorney, and the courts. He said police could respond if the property manager became physically violent or made a direct, actionable threat.
The woman pushed back, saying the manager understood how to frighten the family without clearly crossing the line in front of officers.
“He knows he’s scaring us,” she said.
She alleged that he had told her he did not care whether she, her family, or her children were afraid.
The deputy ultimately agreed to document the complaints and provide a report number so she could establish a paper trail for court.
The early response shows how easily an alleged illegal eviction can be overlooked when it is mixed into a complicated dispute involving rent, repairs, personality conflicts, and repeated police calls. The clearest evidence did not emerge until investigators later gathered a more detailed timeline.
Children Allegedly Spent Hours Without Electricity
In a later interview, an investigator said he had spoken with the district attorney and was preparing a case involving possible unlawful eviction.
The tenant had already moved from the apartment by then, saying she packed and left quickly after the conflict intensified.
When asked to explain the power shutoff in detail, she said she had left for work at approximately 5 a.m. Her children contacted her around 11 a.m. to report that the electricity was off.
At first, she believed it might be an ordinary outage.
She was working as a manager and said she could not immediately make calls or leave. She returned home sometime between 1 and 2 p.m.
Inside, she found one son holding a baseball bat while carrying his younger brother, who was crying.
The children had allegedly remained together that way for roughly three hours because they were afraid and did not understand why the apartment was dark.
That detail transformed the utility dispute into something much more serious. Whatever argument existed between the adults, the immediate effect was felt by children who had no control over rent payments or property conditions.
The tenant still wanted to confirm that the outage was limited to her unit. A family friend who was with her suggested asking whether the manager had electricity upstairs.
The woman called out and asked if his lights were working.
According to her statement, he said they were.
When she asked why her apartment had no electricity, he allegedly replied that he assumed it was because she had not paid her rent.
That answer became an important part of the case because it appeared to connect the loss of power directly to the financial dispute.
Investigators Build a Timeline From Records
The AllAboutCrime narrator explained that investigators began comparing the tenant’s written records, prior police reports, witness statements, text messages, and code-enforcement documents.
The tenant said she had prepared detailed statements about each incident but had difficulty finding them after packing her home in a hurry.
She described repeated calls to police, disputes over parking, alleged threats, food thrown onto her vehicle, and an incident in which she claimed a hole had been made in a wall.
Some of those accusations were difficult to verify. When she said food had appeared on her car, for example, the officer asked whether she had actually seen the property manager do it.
She admitted she had not.
Investigators appropriately separated firsthand evidence from suspicion and hearsay rather than treating every allegation as proven.
The power incident was different because the tenant provided a specific timeline, described the children’s condition, identified a witness who was present after she returned, and reported a direct statement connecting the outage to unpaid rent.
Code enforcement had also reportedly deemed the unit unfit or unlivable, adding context to her decision to withhold payment and leave.
A careful investigation was necessary because both sides had clear motives to describe events in their own favor. The tenant wanted protection and relief from the apartment, while the manager wanted unpaid rent and possession of the unit.
Arrest Follows Alleged Attempt to Force Family Out
According to the channel’s narrator, investigators ultimately determined that the property manager had allegedly shut off the electricity as part of an illegal effort to force the family from the apartment.
He was taken into custody and charged with illegal eviction and harassment.
The video did not provide the final outcome of those charges, and an arrest does not establish guilt. The allegations would still need to be proven or resolved through the court system.
Still, the case illustrates why landlords and property managers must use formal eviction procedures even when a tenant has stopped paying rent.
Turning off power can threaten food storage, medical devices, heating or cooling, lighting, and a family’s basic sense of safety. When children are inside, the risk becomes even more serious.
The tenant may have had separate obligations involving rent, and the manager had the right to pursue those through lawful notices and court proceedings. Those rights did not include making the apartment unusable in hopes that the occupants would simply disappear.
A Housing Dispute That Crossed a Line
The footage began with officers struggling to decide whether they were witnessing a civil conflict or criminal conduct.
That uncertainty was understandable because the story involved months of complaints, disputed repairs, withheld rent, and allegations that were not always supported by direct evidence.
But the later account of the children sitting in darkness, one holding a bat while comforting the other, gave the case a clearer focus.
Housing disputes can become deeply personal, especially when money is missing and communication has collapsed. Even then, adults remain responsible for resolving them without placing children in fear or using essential services as leverage.
The property manager appeared to believe the simplest answer was for the tenant to leave. The law, however, generally requires more than frustration and a demand to move.
According to AllAboutCrime, investigators concluded that the alleged power shutoff was not merely part of an unpleasant landlord-tenant argument. It was an attempt to push a family out without following the legal process, and that conclusion ended with the property manager being placed under arrest.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
