In wake of murder, property owner frustrated by trespassing calls for stronger enforcement

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The murder of Susan Williams last week has caught the attention of many people in the Roanoke area. This includes property owners and realtors, some of whom express their concerns over the increasing homeless population, trespassing, and loitering on their properties.

Jason Roggensee, Broker/Property Management Specialist and owner of The Grandin Agency, owns several rental properties and Airbnb’s in downtown Roanoke. He says in recent months, he’s had numerous encounters with homeless individuals breaking into, blocking access to, or even setting up camp inside his units.

“A guest came in midday, they refused to allow access to the stairwell, we called the police, they dispatched two officers relatively quickly, and basically escorted these two individuals down the street so she could get back on the property,” said Roggensee.

But Roggensee says the problem is—what’s stopping them from coming back? In that case, they did, and Roggensee says the guest ultimately canceled her reservation. He’s had similar incidents at properties he’s trying to sell.

“I received a call from a realtor friend of mine, and she asked me if I was aware of the fact that somebody was camping in the living room of my property, the listing. I honestly thought she was joking, but in fact, someone was camping in the living room—she had a tent, two chairs set up front, a cooler," said Roggensee.

Roggensee claims when police responded, they allowed the woman to simply walk away. In the last three months, he says he’s had about 10 similar cases at different properties across the city. He says people often set up camp behind one of his buildings, using the space to do drugs.

“We found needles, we found all sorts of drugs, all sorts of things back there. But I would say that that situation happens at least once a week where we need to call officers on that,” said Roggensee.

He says these incidents have affected his business, with guests questioning whether they feel safe staying in his rentals. And while he understands homelessness is a complex issue, he believes law enforcement should be doing more.

“I became increasingly frustrated that it didn’t seem like no matter how serious the offense or how intoxicated the individual was, it pretty much always had the exact same result—and that result was basically having them pushed down the street. So I started asking the officers, what would an individual have to do for you to basically arrest them? And repeatedly, I just get the answer that it’s up to the officer’s discretion," said Roggensee.

WDBJ7 reached out to Roanoke Police to ask how they handle trespassing cases. They said trespassing and public intoxication laws apply to every member of the community equally.

Trespassing is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia law.