LOGAN SQUARE — A block of neighbors fed up with squatters drinking, intimidating residents and turning an alley into an open-air toilet have are raising money to seal off the abandoned house that the squatters took over last year.
According to residents who share the alley with the abandoned house in the 1900 block of North Monticello Avenue, the squatters are often seen drinking in the alley or passed out, or urinating and defecating.
But an even more disgusting development has sent neighbors over the edge. The squatters — angry at neighbors who call the police — have begun wiping feces on the garages of those they suspect are complaining about them.
"They were just there last night," resident Fabian Adam said Oct. 21. "Drinking and doing their needs [urinating and defecating] in the alley."
Adam, who lives a block away on Lawndale Avenue, has spotted feces on area garages.
"I've never seen them actually doing it, but I've seen [the mess]," he said.
Adam Conolly, another nearby resident, said he and about two dozen other neighbors complained in the spring to Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th). Conolly said he was told the squatters would be out in a month. But no such luck.
Though the house has been boarded up, the squatters have been staying in the garage in recent months, Conolly said. He bought a chain this week to lock up the rear gate, but said the squatters quickly kicked in the wooden gate to gain access to the backyard.
On Oct. 24, one of the neighbors bought some plywood and boarded up the garage, Conolly said.
"We're kind of hoping that once that it's in place, they really won't have any way of getting in there," Conolly said, later adding, "They're really waging war on the community."
Records show the house belongs to Carlos Cubas, but a phone number listed for him was disconnected.
According to court records, the house went into foreclosure on April 30.
Neither police nor Maldonado could be reached for comment.
