A Georgia homeowner was arrested after she attempted to move back into her property, which had been taken over by an alleged squatter.

Credit: WSB-TV/Clayton County Police Department

Loletha Hale claims to have first discovered Sakemeyia Johnson in her home back in August, as reported by WSB-TV.

Johnson received a squatting citation at the time, but a Clayton County judge later ruled, “Sakemeyia Johnson is not a squatter” due to being a family member of the evicted tenant’s partner.

Johnson herself cited that ruling in her defense, as captured on police bodycam footage.

“I was written a citation saying I was a squatter. But a judge signed an order saying that I wasn’t a squatter,” Johnson said.

A local judge has ruled that Johnson technically isn’t a “squatter” – but Hale disagrees. Credit: WSB-TV/Clayton County Police Department

Despite Hale’s efforts to have Johnson legally removed, which culminated in a successful court-ordered eviction on November 18, Johnson allegedly ignored the ruling and continued to occupy the property.

“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Hale asked.

Hale was detained outside her late mother’s home in Livingston on December 9 and charged with criminal trespassing and making threats.

“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions while this woman, this squatter, slept in my home,” she said.

Hale had returned to the house to clean and prepare it after a court-ordered eviction of Johnson – who remained in the house and reportedly brought along someone to confront Hale.

According to Hale, she arrived to find the locks broken and Johnson back inside the home. “I returned on Monday to start painting, and she had broken the locks at my property,” Hale told WSB-TV.

Police were called to the scene, and bodycam footage captured an officer urging Hale to consider Johnson’s circumstances.

“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with her, and I locked the door. I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out,” Johnson can be seen telling officers in bodycam footage.

“Just think of it from this perspective, though,” an officer can be heard telling Hale. “Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen.”

Hale refused to leave and was ultimately handcuffed and taken into custody. Per the New York Post, police say Hale did not have a “signed writ of possession” to legally evict Johnson.

Squatting is on the rise in Georgia. Credit: Oleksandra Yagello/Getty

The arrest report alleges she “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings.”

It also states that she could be heard saying: “Leave before I get my gun”.

Johnson was charged with a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats and criminal trespassing. Johnson, on the other hand, has not been charged.

“To see that woman walk into my mom’s house while I was in the police car, something is wrong with this picture. Something is inherently wrong with this picture,” Hale said.

Incidents like Hale’s are becoming more common in Georgia. In 2017, the state reported just three squatting cases, per the New York Post.

By 2021, that number had risen to 50. In 2023, there were 198 civil squatting cases across Georgia.