logo
Landscaper arrested for throwing party while homeowners were away

Landscaper arrested for throwing party while homeowners were away

Daily Mail​28-06-2025
A landscaper threw a wild party at his clients' jaw-dropping North Carolina mansion while they were on vacation - but he claims he did nothing wrong. Michael Brown, who runs Brown's Dream Team Landscaping, has previously mowed the lawn of a $4.3 million house in Weddington. But on Saturday afternoon, the 37-year-old had other plans at the ritzy residence - hosting a massive blowout without the owners' permission.
Hundreds of guests - mostly teens and young adults - flocked to the mansion, each paying an entry fee that Brown (pictured) pocketed, according to the Union County Sherriff's Office. With music blasting and cars clogging up the typically quiet street, baffled neighbors grew concerned and filed complaints. 'I was like, that's not a venue, how are they managing this, so, we were disturbed with all the traffic and the cars and the people and not knowing what's happening,' nearby resident Wendy Squires, told WBTV.
Police arrived to shut down the illegal chaotic event and identified Brown as the ringleader. Brown allegedly claimed he was the homeowner and the party was a celebration for his son's graduation. But he was arrested after cops found 'holes' in his story. The party-throwing landscaper was charged with breaking and entering, second-degree trespassing, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, injury to real property and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Brown posted his $10,000 bond later that day - and has shown no regret for hosting the rager. 'I didn't break the law, I just broke some rules of probably what the owners didn't want me to do, but I didn't break the law,' Brown told WSOCTV9. He also admitted to throwing the party for his son and his friends for a profit. 'I just want to always do something where we could create an income and bring a positive environment for his friends,' he told the outlet.
That 'positive environment,' according to Lieutenant James Maye, included 'a lot of underage drinking' among the 300 to 400 guests. Brown claimed he was not charging an 'entry fee' but making guests pay for security - a story cops are not buying, with Maye saying they recovered more than $3,000. 'The owner knew I was supposed to be there,' Brown claimed, later adding he's 'like their son' and is at there house nearly every day.
He also expressed confidence that he did not lose a client over the matter. But the owners' son, Jante Burch, fiercely disputed those assertion. 'What I saw was a very egregious act in my mind. You had youth, they're smoking dope on my back porch, you're in the pool, you have violated,' Burch told WSOCTV9 after they spoke with Brown. 'I was very angry at the fact that this happened, I knew when I saw it that there was not way that my parents knew any of this.'
The distressed son said his parent's stunning home was left a 'hot mess' and debunked Brown's sentiment that he has close ties with the family. 'Bro you cut the grass, you're the hired help so you were that for that reason, and that reason only,' he said. 'He's delusional, he is definitely delusional. In fact, not only has he lost a client, he's probably lost a lot of other clients that he had potentially gotten in that neighborhood.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Drunk Rhode Island official who 'embarrassed herself' after unruly arrest went viral gets swift reality check
Drunk Rhode Island official who 'embarrassed herself' after unruly arrest went viral gets swift reality check

Daily Mail​

time5 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Drunk Rhode Island official who 'embarrassed herself' after unruly arrest went viral gets swift reality check

A top Democrat in Rhode Island will be suspended without pay after a video of her unruly, drunken arrest went viral on social media. Police camera footage released Monday showed Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan Hogan 'berating' officers and attempting to avoid arrest after a drunken night out with a friend. She was arrested Thursday for allegedly trespassing at the Clarke Cooke House, a swanky waterfront restaurant in Newport, Rhode Island. Hogan can be seen on the police body camera footage attempting to use her position to wriggle out of legal trouble. 'I'm an AG [attorney general]. I'm an AG. What are your probable cause to detain me for?' Hogan said. 'You're going to regret this. You're going to regret it,' Hogan also warned the police officers. And now Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha says there will be consequences. Neronha told WPRO radio host Gene Valicenti Tuesday that 'she embarrassed herself, humiliated herself, treated the Newport Police Department horribly.' 'She's really remorseful. She takes responsibility,' Neronha told Valicenti on the radio. He said that he made her watch the video of the arrest, which has taken the internet by storm. Hogan's friend, identified by police as Veronica Hannan, can also be heard saying 'she's a lawyer' as Hogan demanded officers turn off their body cameras and do not film her. Neronha shared that the demands to turn off police body cameras were wrong and not grounded in the very policies created by his own office. 'I'm not sure what she was thinking. Clearly she was not thinking straight,' Neronha added. 'There will be a suspension without pay, if I retain her, for sure. So she's not going to continue as if nothing happened,' Neronha disclosed in his interview. 'She's humiliated herself. Regardless of what happens vis a vis her employment with us, she's going to have a long time coming back from this. It's just really unfortunate.' 'I've got 110 lawyers. You know, she embarrassed all of them, in a sense,' Neronha also said of the incident. In a statement issued by the Newport Police which was obtained by along with the body camera footage, officers noted that Hogan 'was extremely uncooperative, berating officers, repeatedly stating her position as an AG and refusing to follow instructions.' Staff at the restaurant asked officers to remove the two women from the premises. 'Do you guys just want them out?' an officer asked. 'Do you want them trespassed?' 'Anything we can do,' a worker responded. 'Trespass? Yeah. I just need them out. Please.' Officers also claimed that after the deputy AG's antics, 'both parties still refused to leave, and I grabbed Hogan's left and right hands, securing handcuffs on her.' 'While attempting to secure Hogan in handcuffs, she repeatedly stated, 'I'm an AG (Attorney General).' I informed Hogan that she was being arrested because of the fact that she was refused to leave after numerous lawful orders.' Devon Flanagan Hogan has been employed as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office for over seven years, since April 2018 according to her LinkedIn page which has been taken down since the Daily Mail first reported on the incident.

ICE ‘used popular chain hotel' to detain migrants despite company pledging not to participate
ICE ‘used popular chain hotel' to detain migrants despite company pledging not to participate

The Independent

time6 minutes ago

  • The Independent

ICE ‘used popular chain hotel' to detain migrants despite company pledging not to participate

A Louisiana hotel owned by a major chain has been used to hold immigrants awaiting deportation despite the company's pledge not to do so, according to new reports. The Intercept first reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement allegedly used a Sheraton hotel on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria earlier this month, located near a central ICE holding facility. Edison Iza and his 15-year-old son were arrested on August 9 before reportedly being sent to the Louisiana Sheraton, along with other venues in the state and in Texas, before being deported to Ecuador five days later. Iza shared phone-tracking information with the publication as evidence, which The Guardian later reviewed. A person with knowledge of the Louisiana Sherton's operations told the British newspaper they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. ICE contractors known to assist with transferring unaccompanied minors had been observed operating at the Sheraton since June, the source said. They added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families. The reports appear to contradict a Marriott pledge, made during Donald Trump 's first term, that ICE would not use its hotels and properties to detain immigrants. It came after sources told ABC News in July 2019 that the Trump administration had internally discussed the possibility of using hotel rooms due to limited capacity in detention centers. 'Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well,' a company spokesperson told the news station at the time. 'While we have no particular insights into whether the U.S. government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities.' The American Historical Association, a network of professional historians, released a statement of its appreciation for Marriott's 'principled stand' and noted the importance of immigrants to the hotel and related industries. The hospitality industry is especially susceptible to ICE raids and the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, with a high percentage of undocumented workers in the industry. About a third of housekeepers, a quarter of cooks, and one fifth of waitstaff employed by the U.S. hotel industry are undocumented, according to the 2023 census. The Department of Homeland Security issued guidance earlier this year that ICE agents were not to conduct raids at hotels, restaurants, and farms, which was swiftly reversed, The Washington Post reported in June. The Independent

Trump demands Lisa Cook, first black woman Fed Reserve member, ‘resign, now!!!' and accuses her of mortgage fraud
Trump demands Lisa Cook, first black woman Fed Reserve member, ‘resign, now!!!' and accuses her of mortgage fraud

The Independent

time6 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Trump demands Lisa Cook, first black woman Fed Reserve member, ‘resign, now!!!' and accuses her of mortgage fraud

President Donald Trump is escalating his crusade against the Federal Reserve's independence by demanding the resignation of Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the central bank's board of governors, citing unsubstantiated allegations of mortgage fraud. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said Cook, a former Michigan State University professor who has served on the board since 2022, 'must resign, now!!!' and shared a Bloomberg News article about calls for the Department of Justice to investigate Cook's mortgage application history by Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Administration and of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, a 37-year-old board whose grandfather founded a large residential home construction form and who gained prominence on social media by giving away free money to people on Twitter, sent a letter last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi and DOJ official Ed Martin alleging that Cook 'falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statute.' He alleges that Cook improperly listed an Ann Arbor, Michigan property as a primary residence before also purchasing another property in Georgia. His letter to Bondi states that Cook 'appears to have acquired mortgages that do not meet certain lending requirements and could have received favorable loan terms under fraudulent circumstances' and suggested that she be investigated for violating four separate criminal statutes. Separately on social media, Pulte said the allegations, which have not resulted in any charges as of yet, give Trump 'cause to fire' the Democratic appointee. Since being sworn into office, Pulte has used his position to dig into mortgage applications from prominent Democrats and has made similar allegations against New York State Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff. But he denied any improper political motivations during an interview on CNBC and claimed he had 'received a tip' about the matter instead of targeting Cook on his own. 'We refer people every day criminally for mortgage fraud, and no one is above the law. And in this case, it happens to be a fed governor. And I have an obligation to do something about it,' he said. 'You know, the Fed has written all about the economic harm of mortgage fraud, in particular occupancy fraud. And here she is allegedly committing mortgage fraud. So I think it's a big issue. I don't think it's going away. I think she will have to resign or I think she will be fired.' Although he has not publicized any similar allegations against any Republicans, he claimed that his agency would 'look at any allegation of mortgage fraud' and said party affiliation was irrelevant to him. 'We do not care whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. We do not care whether you're wealthy. We don't care whether you're a prosecutor. We don't care whether you're a Fed governor. If you commit mortgage fraud and you present an existential threat to the federal home loan banks ... we are going to prosecute it,' he said. Pulte's move to accuse Cook of mortgage fraud expands his — and the president's — effort to hound members of the Federal Reserve's board in retaliation for not acting to artificially juice the economy by lowering interest rates. Trump has made no secret of his distaste for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom he nominated to lead the Federal Reserve in 2017, primarily because of Powell's refusal to lower interest rates, particularly in light of Trump's decision to levy tariffs. Powell has said that the central bank needs time to see what effects tariffs will have on inflation and employment before making a determination on interest rates. This has prompted Trump to call Powell a 'stupid person' and refer to him by the nickname 'Too Late.' The Supreme Court recently signaled that Trump can't fire Fed board members simply because the president disagrees with him on interest rates. But legally he could do so 'for cause,' such as misconduct or dereliction of duty.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store