Wynnefield “Squatter” Arrested in Home of Legendary Radio Exec
Last week, we told you the strange tale of 2400 Bryn Mawr Avenue, a century-old Wynnefield house owned by late WDAS and WURD radio executive Kernie Anderson, who entertained the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Street and Wilson Goode Sr. inside of it.
The home had recently become occupied by a 35-year-old man named James Gadsden, much to the surprise of Anderson’s daughter Shama, who lives in the Harrisburg area but has been keeping tabs on the house since her dad’s death in December. Shama Anderson told us she wanted Gadsden out and that he had no legal right to be there, while Gadsden tried his best to convince us otherwise. Well, it appears that the law is siding with the daughter.
After our story ran, Shama Anderson changed the locks on the doors of the home, which, according to City Hall is still deeded to her late father. But then Gadsden turned back up at the house.
As Anderson tells it, Gadsden broke into the house (again) on Tuesday of this week and when he was confronted (again) by a neighbor about his presence, he (again) tried to convince the neighbor that he is the owner of the house and that he had every right to be there, just as he tried to tell us last week in a phone conversation that he insisted on recording. But eventually, he declined to answer our specific questions about his claim to the house.
Police arrived on the scene on Tuesday evening. The week before, they responded to the home but left once Gadsden’s wife perplexingly produced state identification that listed 2400 Bryn Mawr Avenue has her legal residence. But this time, it was just Gadsden and a male companion.
Police say they found Gadsden standing in the doorway and that officers noticed that the lock was broken. After Shama Anderson told police on the scene that she had just put a brand new lock on the door the day before and that she did not know Gadsden, he was arrested and charged with criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Bail has been set at $5,000.