The inside of a Nicol St. home was ripped apart by squatters when the Greenway family was away on vacation. (Allison Greenway/Facebook)

By Spencer Sterritt

FAMILY HORROR

‘It’s so scary:’ Nanaimo family devastated after squatters destroy and loot home

Sep 8, 2020 | 5:05 PM

NANAIMO — A local family anticipating a nice, relaxing return home after a three week vacation instead returned to a nightmare.

Their house in the 300 block of Nicol St. was torn apart, ruined by squatters who’d moved in shortly after they left for vacation.

Mother of four Allison Greenway said it shook her to the core to find so much damage when coming home on Sunday, Sept 6.

“It was such a mess, it was ruined. They’d set up and went through everything,” she told NanaimoNewsNOW. “They tore our marriage certificate in two, they cut the voice boxes out of the kids stuffies. They were in our kids’ beds. Why would someone do that?”

Greenway said she and her husband tried to stay positive for the kids and not scare them, but it was nearly impossible to not feel defeated.

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“Coming home the first day was bad, I didn’t think it would get worse,” Greenway said.

The very next day on Monday, Sept. 7 her husband returned to the house after dinner and was terrified to find a squatter had come back to the house and started to make himself at home once again.

He was found in the children’s closet.

Nanaimo RCMP were called and a K9 unit was brought in to drag him away.

Greenway said she’s trying to stay strong for her children, between the ages of one and eight, but they know what happened.

“I don’t know how I’m going to make their room feel safe again,” she said. “They know a man was taken out of their closet. How do I fix it? They’re still scared to go home and I don’t blame them.”

Despite the damage to the house, Greenway said they don’t have the resources to move elsewhere.

She said the community is there to help her family recover, after she posted pictures of the destruction to Facebook.

“All of our stuff was stolen so a lady brought in a new TV so the kids could watch a movie. We had people dropping off cleaning supplies.”

Teachers and school staff from both Bayview Elementary and Tillicum Lelum helped clear out bags of trash and clean the walls.

“We’re going to do our best to clean it up and make it feel like a home again. I just don’t know how to move forward. How do I get everything back together?”

Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Gary O’Brien said people asking others to watch their house while away on vacation is often forgotten.

There is not an active block watch for the 300 block of Nicol St., but he expects that to change.

“In the last week we’ve been approached by neighbourhoods in that area who are very interested in starting a block watch.”

O’Brien said the man pulled from the house is known to police and often has weapons on him.

The man is currently in police custody and expected to appear in court later this week.

A GoFundMe for the Greenway family was created on Tuesday, Sept. 8 with a $7,000 goal.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt