Man Arrested After Drinking Party At Foreclosed Home: Cops

RACINE, WI — A 28-year-old Racine man has been arrested and charged after authorities say he held a drinking party in the backyard of a foreclosed home that he wasn't supposed to be in.

Mustafa E. Bey has been charged with criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing related to the Aug. 1 incident on Ellis Ave. He has been released on a $400 signature bond, court records show.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Racine County, Caledonia police officers were sent to the home in the 1200 block of Ellis Ave. on a report that several people were trespassing in the foreclosed home.

Authorities said a real estate agent for Keefe Real Estate told police there were two external locks on the door that were supposed to keep people out, and that nobody was supposed to be inside.

When they got to the home, Caledonia police officers said they found eight people in the backyard, drinking beer on the patio. When police talked with Bey, he told police he paid taxes on the property, so he became the rightful owner, the criminal complaint stated.

According to the criminal complaint, Bey claimed he entered the home with a key, but somehow could not provide officers with the key. He also could not come up with any paperwork proving that he owned the property, police said.