Squatter arrested after moving into vacant $17m mansion and selling off $300k of the owner's artworks

Squatter arrested after moving into vacant $17m mansion and selling off $300k of the owner's artworks

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that police officers found and arrested 38 year old Jeremiah Kaylor, who was squatting in a mansion on the market and sold several paintings from the home valued at more than $300,000.

The Police went to the home in the ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood after receiving reports of a suspicious person.

Officer Carlos Manfredi says the man told police he was buying the home, but a real estate agent said he was trespassing. The agent also said 11 paintings were missing.

Though the art was valued in the high six-figures, Manfredi said Kaylor sold the pieces for well below their value.

Police responded to the home on Sunday and found Kaylor with a painting next to a moving van. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary after a neighbor tipped off the police that they saw lights on in the vacant home. 

Authorities say they tracked down nine of the paintings and expect to find the other two soon.

The home which was once valued at $25million is now listed as a 'single family home' for $17million.

According to CBS San Francisco it had been vacant for five years.  

Police say Kaylor occupied the 8-bedroom 7-bathroom mansion for around two months before he was caught and that it is unclear how he got access to the home. 

Manfredi thinks he was able to enter through an open window. 

'They made contact with the squatter, he identified himself, produced paperwork saying that he was going to be the proprietor of the house and was in the process of owning the home,' Manfredi said.

Officers were not able to get in touch with the sales manager from Vanguard Properties since it was almost midnight, and there was no way to prove whether the papers were real, Manfredi said.

Police returned on Sunday and arrested Kaylor after the sales manager confirmed he was trespassing.

'While detaining him, an officer noticed a big wooden crate that you would put a painting inside for transport and upon opening the crate, they discovered it was one of the paintings that belonged to the home, Manfredi said.

Kaylor said he sold the paintings on social media and also took the art to pawn shops. 

According to Kaylor's Facebook page he is a painter and a father of three children. The children were not at the mansion and it's unclear whose custody they are in.