GROVE CITY - Members of a family hellbent on reclaiming land they say is theirs are taking over vacant homes in a Grove City subdivision, stunning neighbors and confounding police.
The Ross family once owned farmland off Haughn Road that’s now Hoover Park subdivision.
The Rosses don’t own it now, authorities say, but that hasn’t stopped them from taking unusual measures to stake a claim.
Family members changed locks on one newly built home and moved in, Grove City police say. They were discovered in August when the prospective owners showed up for a final inspection and their keys wouldn’t fit in the locks. Through the windows, they saw furniture inside.
In the past year, the Rosses have surfaced inside several unoccupied houses, police say. They were showing one to prospective renters when neighbors interrupted and detained them until police arrived.
Family members have acted as landlords at several houses, renting them to friends or relatives without permission from the property owners, police say.
They even took one couple to court, hoping to evict them from a house the Rosses claim to own.
"I’ve never heard of a situation like this," said Dennis Deskins, acting Grove City police chief. "We’ve certainly never investigated a situation like this."
Since at least 2000, Ross family members have barricad ed roads into the subdivision, delivered dozens of handwritten eviction notices to homeowners and broken into newly built houses there, police and residents say.
Homeowners are afraid of the family and frustrated that police can't do more to help.
One family member "said he'd let some of us stay and buy our houses back from him at half price," Hoover Park resident Darin Cooper said. "The guy's just a complete nut job."
Laura and Vance Coulter think so, too.
In December, a month after they moved into a Homewood Corp. home they had built in Hoover Park, a man approached Mrs. Coulter. He identified himself as Pat Ross and warned that her family would be evicted by Christmas. He told her he and his family owned the house.
"They said we had better be careful," Mrs. Coulter said. "They would come and get me in the middle of the night."
Mrs. Coulter was served an eviction notice and summoned to Franklin County Municipal Court in March. There, she confronted Audley Darrell Ross, who said Pat Ross sold him the land where her house stands. Later ownership changes were invalid, Audley Ross said.
"It's just craziness," Mrs. Coulter said.
A court magistrate agreed, dismissing Ross' claim in April. But that wasn't the end of the matter.
"When they lost, they told us, 'You are in harm's way,' " Mrs. Coulter said. "And the police said that unless they come on our property, they can't do anything about it."
Mrs. Coulter said she's afraid for her family's safety.
"I would never let my kids sleep in a tent in my own back yard," she said.
Audley Ross, also known as A.D., was indicted Sept. 8 on two felony counts each of possession of criminal tools and breaking and entering related to incidents at other Hoover Park houses, police say.
Warrants for his arrest were mailed to a Galloway address last week.
Claude J. Ross, believed to have been living at a Summer Glen Drive home in Hoover Park since June, also is wanted by Grove City police on a misdemeanor falsification charge.
Police say he misidentified himself when they found him attempting to rent out a house he doesn't own.
Police say the Rosses have illegally taken over at least four Hoover Park houses, but there's not much they can do to stop them.
In all but one case, they moved into or rented out houses that had been abandoned by their owners, some of whom have declared bankruptcy. At least one mortgage lender refused to press charges. Tracking down missing owners of the other houses has been difficult, police say.
Police did locate the owner of the Summer Glen Drive house, who now lives in Texas. He authorized police to evict whoever was living in his house, effective yesterday.
Seven police officers found Aleta Addair and her infant granddaughter at the house yesterday afternoon. They charged Addair with criminal trespassing and gave her 48 hours to leave or face more charges.
"I'm the one stuck in the middle here and don't know what to do," Addair said moments before police arrived. "Ever since the day I leased this house, these people have harassed me."
Addair said she formerly was married to Claude Ross and rents the house from another family member, Charles Ross. Last month, she found large signs reading "get out" and "squatter" on her front lawn.
"I don't know why these people hate me," she said.
Neighbors say they want the Rosses and their friends out.
"I've talked to everybody about what we can do to get these people out," neighbor Mike Darby said. "Everybody thinks this is funny because it sounds so bizarre.
"You'd think after a while you could put this guy or these guys in jail."
(dgebolys@dispatch.com)