Authorities Condemn Illegal Boarding House, Evict Residents

A Montgomery County man has been charged with running a now-condemned illegal boarding house after he reportedly hired a Parkville man to evict two tenants who were late in paying their rent.

Detectives have arrested Martin Winepol, 71, of the 17700 block of Cashell Road in Olney, and Garfield Johnson, 50, of the 1700 block of Wycliff Avenue in Parkville, for their involvement in this case.

Montgomery County Police officers received a 911 call Aug. 6 from a residence in the 17700 block of Cashell Road in Olney, where a woman asscreaming for help and banging on the window of a neighbor’s house.

A 72-year-old woman who had been screaming for said she and her 50-year-old son rented a basement room in Winepol’s residence. Because they were late in paying rent, police say Winepol had Johnson and four unidentified suspects -- three black men and a woman – evict them. In the ensuing scuffle the victims’ phones were broken.

Winepol allegedly paid Johnson $1,000 to scare and force the victims out of the residence. The men knew each other because Winepol had previously used Johnson’s tree-removal services, police say.

Winepol turned himself in to police on Aug. 12 and was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit robbery, and conspiracy to commit second-degree assault.

Johnson was arrested without incident in Parkville on Aug. 13. He is charged with first-degree burglary, robbery, two counts of second-degree assault, and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary and robbery.

During the investigation, housing officials met with Winepol to inspect his single-family home, which was determined to have been used as an illegal rooming/boarding home. The residence had 15 occupants and included four, illegal accessory apartments, along with five kitchens.

The Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs condemned the entire property and all the residents were ordered to vacate.

The four remaining suspects in the case have not been identified. Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Sharif Hidayat at the 4th District: 240-773-5500. Callers may remain anonymous.

»Montgomery County Police have charged Martin Winepol, left, of Olney with running an illegal boarding house. Garfield Johnson, right, of Parkville, was also charged for reportedly trying to evict tenants. Credit: Montgomery Police