Army Specialist Michael Sharkey normally lives in the city of New Port Richey, Florida. The Army decided to station Sharkey at a base in Hawaii for a term of two years. This meant that Sharkey and his wife had to pick up everything and move to the base in Hawaii for that time. They left their Florida home in the care of a close friend while they were away.
When the two years of service in Hawaii were up, Sharkey and his wife returned to their Florida home. They were greeted with a locked door. Two ex-convicts had apparently forced their way into the house while the couple was in Hawaii. The ex-convicts changed the locks on the doors once they had moved in. When Sharkey tried to gain entry to his home, the convicts refused and claimed that they now lived there legally.
Local news stations started to pick up the story. The squatters in the house claimed that they had talked to Sharkey’s friend who was in charge of maintaining the property while the couple was serving in Hawaii. The agreement supposedly stated that the ex-convicts would live in the home for an undetermined amount of time as long as they were doing repairs on the interior. Sharkey’s friend vehemently denies this. The fact the ex-convicts established residency, however, meant eviction had to be done through civil court.
News of the squatters was received poorly by other veterans around the country. A group of bikers who are all military veterans announced that they would ride together to Sharkey’s home. The intention was to get the squatters out using non-violent methods. The news of the bikers appeared to be too much for the squatters. They left the house soon after the announcement that the bikers were coming.
