TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The damage is shocking and extensive. Drywall is torn down, there are holes in walls and cement poured in toilets.
The inside of the commercial building, at the corner of the 1700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was destroyed, days before it was to be sold in a foreclosure sale.
A local family was the mortgage holder and foreclosed in July.
The business that was foreclosed upon is a chiropractic business and had until Dec. 19 to move out.
Days before that date, the Satiago family found the damage they are now stuck with.
“It’s personal. It’s disheartening. It’s threatening,” said Glyssel Santiago-Cooper, whose family is left with the damage.
“If someone is trying to make a point, someone is angry.”
Empty beer and liquor bottles were left behind. The floor is covered with glass and drywall and nearly every toilet and sink in the entire building is filled with cement.
In the former chiropractic office, medical documents, some with personal information, are strewn around.
“This could have still been intact,” Santiago-Cooper said.
“This could have been someone else’s office, growing their business, but unfortunately it’s not. It’s going to take some time to get this back to what it used to be.”
Better Call Behnken left a phone message for the chiropractor, knocked on his door and reached out to him on on social media.
He called back and said the vandalism is news to him and that he moved out months ago.
Meanwhile, Tampa police said there is an active investigation.
Whoever did this blocked windows to avoid detection, but that may not be enough to protect these vandals because there is surveillance video.
“We just want to know why, and we also want them to know that we’re not giving up on this. We have full plans to pursue and continue to investigate,” Santiago-Cooper said.
“Because we believe that whoever did this should be prosecuted.”
The Santiagos say they will turn over the medical records to the state Department of Health to keep them safe.
