Deputies in San Francisco on Wednesday followed through on dozens of planned evictions at a Potrero Hill apartment complex where residents reportedly were squatting, according to officials.
The San Francisco Sheriff's Office told NBC Bay Area it had court orders for 40 evictions at the Potrero Hill Terrace-Annex. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city's housing authority said the people under the eviction order are illegally squatting in the apartments, which are slated for demolition.
The Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, however, said many of those under the eviction order had been paying rent for more than a year to a corrupt property manager, according to the Chronicle.
Deputies were armed with a shield, battering ram and weapons just in case. Officials told NBC Bay Area they were not criminal evictions, and they were trying to remove the people with care and dignity.
One woman’s daughter said her mother was allowed to retrieve her belongings and then asked to leave the property.
"She's been in there 15 years ... ain't nobody been harassing her," Kentisha Watson said about her mother, adding that she wasn't paying rent. "I don't know where she's gonna go."
The evictions apparently were not a surprise: An eviction notice and no trepassing warning had been posted on the door to the elderly woman's unit.
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