Mother, 5 kids evicted from Lansing home; mom charged with damaging property

A mother is accused of damaging a home she allegedly lived in illegally with her five children in south suburban Lansing.

Sandrea Calhoun, 30, is charged with felony criminal damage to property after officers found the home that she was allegedly squatting in for two months had broken windows and a kicked in door, Lansing police said in a statement.

Officers were initially called in May 2018 to meet with a mortgage representative to investigate a “squatter” at a home in the 17000 block of Park Avenue, police said.

At the home, investigators found Calhoun and her five children, police said. Calhoun told officers she was renting the home from someone she met on the classified ad website Craigslist, police said.

Officers found the agreement was fraudulent, and agreed to let Calhoun look for another place while the mortgage company started the eviction process, police said.

Two months later, the Cook County sheriff’s police eviction unit went to the home and found Calhoun and her children still living there, police said. She was given an official notice from the sheriff’s office to vacate the building.

On July 30, 2018, Lansing officers went to the home for a call of an open door, police said. They found the front door kicked in, damage inside the home and several broken windows.

An investigation including witness interviews found that Calhoun was responsible, police said. She was arrested Tuesday on a warrant, police said.

Calhoun is due for a bail hearing on Wednesday, police said.