San Diego

San Diego County marshals Tuesday evicted Nathaniel G. Jones and about a dozen other residents from a Gaslamp Quarter building where state officials say Jones has operated an unlicensed shelter for homeless youth.

Even as residents piled their belongings on the sidewalk outside the building at 520 6th Ave. late Tuesday afternoon, Jones vowed a fight to remain at the shelter he opened in April, just weeks after he was released from County Jail. He served seven months of a one-year sentence for attempted auto theft, a felony.

In a shouting match on the sidewalk with the building’s owner, Robert Osterberg, Jones said that the lease he signed in April entitled him to occupy 522 6th Ave., another address in the same building. He said he planned to break down the door at that address with police present to establish his right to reside there.

Jones said he also planned to appeal the eviction order, which was granted last week by San Diego County Superior Court Judge Wesley Buttermore Jr. after Osterberg alleged Jones had failed to make any payments under the lease agreement. Jones said he was prepared to post a $5,400 bond to retain possession of the building until the appeal could be heard.

“I’m going to appeal this motion, and then I’m going to sue (Osterberg) for $1 million in damages and (for) detrimental health conditions for each of these individuals,” said Jones, pointing first at the landlord and then at the shelter’s residents. Earlier, he had said he refused to pay rent because he said the building was infested with roaches and vermin.

“You people live like a bunch of animals up there,” Osterberg shouted back. “This is made for office space. It’s not made for sleeping quarters.”

Osterberg said he had given Jones about four hours to vacate the building following the late-afternoon eviction by county marshals.