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What makes a house a home? Probably not cocaine, a shotgun, marijuana, grenades, a pig, and lack of ownership.
Police arrested a couple last night who they found squatting in a Miami home with all of those strange items and more. A bomb squad had to be called to remove the grenades.
Update: Police have identified the couple: 37-year-old Darin James Febus and 33-year-old Miriam Scott Bailey.
A New York man flew into town to visit his vacation home at 2021 SW 37th Ave. only to be greeted by the squatters. So the man, naturally, called police.
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“The actual owners of this home are from New York and they came down, and it’s possible that these individuals aren’t legally renting here and can be squatters,” Miami Police Sgt. Freddie Cruz told WSVN.
Police began investigating and found the following items in the home: six to ten grenades, unknown amounts of marijuana and cocaine, a few pet dogs, a handgun, a shotgun, and a pet pig.
The discovery of the grenades necessitated the closing of SW 37th Avenue between Alhambra Circle and Coral Way while a bomb squad was called in. The grenades were successfully removed from the house without incident. They’ll be taken to a lab where they’ll be tested to determine if they are still active.
The squatter couple, a man and a woman in their 30s, were arrested and now face drug and weapon charges. No word on the fate of the pig.
Update: The couple arrested has been identified as 37-year-old Darin James Febus and 33-year-old Miriam Scott Bailey. Febus faces one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of grand theft, and one count of possession of cannabis. Bailey faces one count of grand theft and one count of possession of cannabis. Mug shots have not been released yet, but here’s Febus’s mug shot from August when he was arrested on battery charges.
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