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Crews demolish the wrong house in Pontiac; One homeowner accused of changing address numbers

Posted at 7:01 PM, Sep 06, 2013
and last updated 2015-06-19 07:15:11-04

One man's ingenious plan to save his house from the wrecking ball caused crews to take down the wrong home in Pontiac on Thursday. 

The man who owned the house that was slated for demolition is accused of changing the address numbers with the house next door.

Mike--the man who owns the house that wasn't supposed to be torn down-- tells 7 Action News he was planning on renting it out on October 1 and he's wondering if the city of Pontiac owes him a new house.

But many in the neighborhood are happy the wrong house was torn down. They say it was an eyesore with broken windows. They also said squatters were living in the home. 

"When I heard they tore down the house on accident I wanted to give them a twelve pack of beer," said neighbor Fred Sargent. "I was that happy."

"If anybody was going to rent that out, it had to be a crackhead," Sargent said.

Detectives with the Oakland  County Sheriff's Office are now investigating the alleged swapping of address numbers that led to the wrong house being torn down.

Regardless, the man's plan didn't work for long. Crews returned late Thursday to actually tear down the right one.