Wrecking crew uses GPS to locate the home they were to demolish. Too bad they picked the wrong one.

[marmar]

from wsbtv:



Homeowner Says Crews Demolished Wrong House
Posted: 3:43 pm EDT June 10, 2009


CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. -- This is a story that may leave you shaking your head.

A Sandy Springs man got a phone call Monday that his family home in Carroll County was gone. Torn down. Demolished.

“We had heirlooms in there…my mom’s dining room set…her hutch with her dishes in there,” said homeowner Al Byrd.

Byrd said he cannot believe his eyes.

The house his father built, brick by brick, with his own hands has been mysteriously demolished.

“You can’t imagine. It’s just incredulous that something like this can happen and no one contact the owner,” said Byrd.

Byrd grew up in the home with his nine brothers and sisters. It’s a three bedroom house on a little road bearing his family’s name. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/19715994/detail.html

[malaise]

1. WTF????? n/t

[Xipe Totec]

2. The demolition company said it had paperwork.

“I said, ‘Paperwork for what?’ and he said, ‘For the house, to demolish the house.’ I said, ‘I’m the owner of the house, I haven’t given anybody any authority to demolish this house,’” said Byrd.

“I said, ‘What address did you have?’ and he said, ‘They sent me some GPS coordinates.’ I said, ‘Don’t you have an address?’ (and) he said, ‘Yes, my GPS coordinates led me right to this address here and this house was described,’” said Byrd.


Beside the obvious civil damages, I think this definitely qualifies as criminal braking and entering.

[woodsprite]

3. I hope he and their family sue their butts off.

I can believe people are that stupid. I just came from lunch where we sat down and the waitress took our order (2 personal sized pizzas) and she shows up at the table with 16" large pizzas. She said she thought it didn't make sense and one of the other waitresses told her in the kitchen "Oh, that's strange. They usually order the special." Even when questioned, she didn't think to confirm, just went ahead. Probably what the demolition team did too. IF they even thought to question it at all.

[napi21]

6. Not true in this case. The dite mgr. of the demo crew called the

realty firm who had hired him to confirm he had the right house and they said YES!!!! I believe this is totally the fault of the Realty firm. First for not giving a physical street # in the address, and then simply saying yes when he called to confirm!

I live in Ga. and this happened about 45 minutes from here. It was on our news last night!

[depakid]

9. Not getting a street address is negligence

Hope the Demolition company has good insurance.

[Xipe Totec]

11. More than that, it's breaking and entering

Literally.

[Occulus]

4. He should sue for the value of the companies involved.

Take everything they own in court. The people directly involved should also be sued individually. Take all their assets as well.

This owner deserves millions in compensation. Tens of millions.

He deserves every penny everyone involved with demolishing his house has- retirement funds, college funds, the whole shebang.

[konnichi wa]

12. I wonder when was the last time that someone who was civilly wronged just went to

the guilty party and ASKED for compensation instead of burning rubber all the way to a lawyer's office.
I did it in 1972 (and was adequately paid) but I haven't heard of it happening since.
:shrug:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

17. one of our clients tried that,

the offending company took out a restraining order against the individual,

[konnichi wa]

18. Well he should have been pleased, that would be good evidence for the courtroom

:D

[RT Atlanta]

5. So sad...

I saw this on the news here last night and the man who was speaking (it was his family's house that was demolished) was toughing it out to keep his composure. What's really sad to me is knowing the residential construction business, I doubt either of the 3 companies involved have sufficient insurance (in the aggregate) to financially compensate him for the loss, to say nothing of sentimental loss.

[babylonsister]

7. Can anyone imagine coming home to that?

How sad. GPS coordinates vs. an address? I'm speechless.

[LiberalFighter]

10. We need a way to block GPS coordinates just like for Caller Block

Or a way to send coordinates of Bush, Cheney, Palin or others to the appropriate devices.

[boppers]

15. GPS blocking exists, but it would have to be wide-area to work.

Otherwise, a position can be triangulated from three points outside of a small, blocked area.

That being said, GPS is rarely off by more than 20-50 feet, so getting the wrong house seems like more of a typo in the co-ordinates used.

[yy4me]

8. Terrible beyond comprehension, the wrecking company and all

of those involved should have done more "recalculating".

If there was ever a more legitimate cause for a lawsuit, I can't imagine. This is gross negligence, destruction of personal property, emotional trauma and a host of other issues.

I don't think I could make it through something so horrible. The history of a lifetime wiped out by idiots.

I hope this guy has a great lawyer.

[conscious evolution]

14. Even an idiot lawyer

would win this one.

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. I wish someone would accidentally knock my house down.

Then I could get a new one out of it.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

16. and I thought I was pissed when some assholes started taking down my fence

[konnichi wa]

20. Last fall I noticed an unfamiliar car parked down the road...after a while I got curious and walked

down to where it was sitting. A lady was working her butt off trying to get a big FOR SALE sign jammed into the hard clay. I just stood back and watched...finally she seemed satisfied, wiped the sweat off her face and noticed me. "Hi," I said, "may I inquire what exactly are you doing?"

She replied "Posting this property for sale, can't you read the sign?"

I said "Yes, I can read it just fine but you may be interested to know it isn't for sale."

"Of course it is" she answered, "here is my listing: 31xxx East 7xx road"

"Ah", I said, "that's nice. This is 7xx LANE...that address is 3 blocks south of here and you really need to
take that sign off my property."

:rofl: :D

[ColbertWatcher]

19. Garbage in, garbage out.

They can't blame the machine or the technology when every house has a different number on the outside.

[Xenotime]

21. The wrecking crew was from Texas...typical

[Texasgal]

22. Typical?

What do you mean? Does Texas seem to have crews that wreck houses consistently?

[Xenotime]

23. Yea. They are called republicans.

I couldn't resist.

[Texasgal]

24. Obviously.

:eyes:

[Blue For You]

25. The Carroll County Accident?

A little something for you Porter Waggoner fans. ;)

[lpbk2713]

26. The electric service would have still been hooked up.

How the fug could they demolish a house with hot power connected to it?

And didn't they notice the house was filled with personal property?

I don't think these people were real bright. :shrug: