Austin TX home w/ tunnels containing guns etc.

[festus]

by NOELLE NEWTON / KVUE News
Link Removed
kvue.com

Posted on May 18, 2010 at 5:34 PM

Updated Tuesday, May 18 at 6:14 PM

Related:
Tunnels discovered beneath East Austin home
19 guns taken from tunnels under East Austin home
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The City of Austin Tuesday released photos of the web of tunnels a man dug underneath his East Austin home.

Under the yellow home are three stories of tunnels. For at least two years, neighbors suspected owner Jose Del Rio was up to something strange, but had no idea just how busy he'd been.

"He must have dug day and night, day and night,” said Zeldta Landon.

Landon's grandmother lives next door to the property. She showed KVUE where the ground has begun to cave in along the fence line. You can even see down into Del Rio's underground bunker. She says Del Rio was often seen carrying out loads of dirt.

On Tuesday, the city released pictures from below taken by code compliance officers. Del Rio apparently used ladders to travel from level to level.

According to a search warrant executed on May 8th, officers found 19 guns down there, ammunition, batteries and chemicals.

"Primarily some compressed gas tanks, acetylene and oxygen, which are primarily used for welding,” said Melissa Martinez, code compliance department.

KVUE shared the photos with Landon's family.

"It's scary to know that he had all that down there. What if something had exploded,” Landon said.

Melissa Martinez with the city code compliance department says the priority is safely removing those chemicals.

The city is working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Once the property is safe, officers will be able to determine just how many code violations Del Rio has and if the house will remain standing.

"I can tell you that our consulting engineering group has given a recommendation on the extent of the excavation and they believe that filling the hole is a viable option,” Martinez said.

We should know the final decision on the property in two weeks.

 

[HootmonSccy]

Who knew it was illegal to dig under your house..
How hard is it to remove Oxygen and Acetylene really..
This would not happen in most of Florida, dig down a couple of feet and you get wet pretty fast!

IF they throw this guy in prison they better hide the spoons.. I'm thinking he could put the "shawshank redemption" guy to shame... :laugh:

 

[Fondis Firearms]

I guess you need a permit to put a basement in your house:sarcastic:

Who knows how many people have something similar to this... Heck, I have a basement, and ladders, batteries, oxygen & acytelyne in my garage, and lots of guns in my safe... Will they be coming after me next:hang3:?

 

[Onlinedad]

OH I get it, its okay for the govt to dig giant holes in the ground and lets say... oh I dunno stick a nuclear bomb down in their tunnel. But, if a private citizen wants to do some underground welding then thats off limits. The only reason this guy wasn't up to code was because he wasn't finished with it yet. Hmmm makes me wonder, what are the codes for underground hobby building anyway? I wonder if this guy will open up a new consoltation buisness to help other people who have the same hobby

 

[JSDinTexas]

"It's scary to know that he had all that down there. ..."

Anything and everything scares the tree-hugging eco-veggies in Austin - believe me, I know - I used to live in that worthless town.

 

[ecocks]

I have no problem with code construction standards. Hopefully, he'll get a good lawyer to sort through what the facts are and deal with the code violations (if any). Seems valid to complain if the neighbors' yards are showing evidence of countersinking.

Certainly the 19 guns is nothing particularly unusual. The neighbor is apparently an easily-unnerved type on that issue. The "chemicals" and welding materials may or may not constitute a problem for him and the neighborhood. More facts are needed.

 

[FN1910]

If we are going to hole the coal companies responsible for reventing cave in while tunneling then I suppose we can hold individuals responsible for precenting cav ins. I don't know how far the tunnels went but it doesn't look like it could have been very far witout going off of his property according to the photos. Personally I don't care to go down in them or stand on top.

 

[Boomboy007]

You mean you don't know?

I guess you need a permit to put a basement in your house:sarcastic:

Who knows how many people have something similar to this... Heck, I have a basement, and ladders, batteries, oxygen & acytelyne in my garage, and lots of guns in my safe... Will they be coming after me next:hang3:?

Short answer..... yes. :yes4:

I am sure that we are ALL on the short list. :redface:

 

[1911 Headbanger]

Who knew it was illegal to dig under your house..
How hard is it to remove Oxygen and Acetylene really..
This would not happen in most of Florida, dig down a couple of feet and you get wet pretty fast!

IF they throw this guy in prison they better hide the spoons.. I'm thinking he could put the "shawshank redemption" guy to shame... :laugh:

Same here. Dig a foot and a half down here and the hole fills up with water. No such thing as basements in South Louisiana. Wish I could. I'd have one myself. I have been trying to figure out the best way to work a bomb shelter here. Most of the old Cold War shelters were dug about a foot into the ground and concrete slabbed low in the ground, with a concrete dome over it and dirt built up over the dome with grass growing on it. Looks like a big hump in the ground.

 

[HK4U]

"It's scary to know that he had all that down there. ..."

Anything and everything scares the tree-hugging eco-veggies in Austin - believe me, I know - I used to live in that worthless town.

+1. Glad you were ale to get out. I do not even like to go down there on business. You know the slogan about "keep Austin Weird". Not much chance of it being anything but.

 

[Fondis Firearms]

I'm glad I live in Colorado. leasantry: Out here we all have basements & guns and most people let you do whatever you want on your own property as long as you aren't hurting anyone. I did grow up in CA, though and I'll never live there again.:hang3:

 

[Hills Creek]

I wonder if this guy has plans availabe on how he did this.. come come in handy in the furture

 

[HardCorps53]

Jose got busted? Damn, now I've got to find another contractor.

 

[jibbster]

Jose got busted? Damn, now I've got to find another contractor.

:haha:

 

[Hamilton Felix]

A buddy sent me a news item on this. I'm sorry for the guy (though it doesn't look as if he was a skillful miner).
You should be able to do anything you want on your own land.
The news item I read, told of the progression from neighbor ratting him out, to Code Enforcement Inspector, to full blown SWAT terror-raid, to the man being taken by Adult Protective Services (the agency which declares old people mentally incompetent, throws them in a low-rent hell-hole "home," then in return for "taking care of them, seizes all of their assets). The old guy is now in hell.

If one has any sort of neighbors, one should assume discovery at some point. Have a story ready, some broken flooring and a little digging in one corner of basement (well away from entry to underground shelter), a few bags of Sakretr. a little rebar and some tools in sight, maybe a damp area. "I'm trying to fix part of my basement floor where it broke up on me."

Showing the Code Nazi the underground area was crazy.

I really feel really sorry for the old guy. Someone forgot to tell him that Goverment is Never your friend...

 

[FN1910]

Actually you can do about anything on your own land you want to as long as you keep the building inspector informed so he can reasssess the value and raise the taxes. Wll almost anything but you can't grow mary jane or build bombs or nuke type stuff. Actually you can do that if you show that you hae it bunkered enough that when it blows up you won't wipe out the neighborhood.

If you want to you can go mining on your property as long as you don't find any gold unless you live in one of the 13 original colonies. But if you do dig a mine you have to make sure that it doesn't cave in on top of you and then have the rescue squad lose 5 people trying to get you out. In this fellows case I really don't think it was the mine or tunnels but they way he dug them. It was starting to cave in and wasn't going to be long before he went missing and the neighbors would have just though he decided to move on.

As for the adult protective services I am right now going through a similar situation with my mother. If she didn't have a family that cared about her she would be in the protective services and there are some in the same place my mother is that have been placed in "hell hole" and that you are describing ane the taking all of your property.

I don't know the details of this story but I have seen people start on things, not totally unlike this fellows tunnels" that if someone didn't step in whether it be the government, family or neighbors it would have ended up very bad for more than just the one person. You can dig all the tunnels you want to on your property and no one including the government will actually care as long as you fix it where it won't cave in. I consider it the same as these people that insist on heading out to sea in a 16' boat and 6' for a pleasure cruise then complaing when the Coast Guard can't get to them in time. Or maybe the idiot that tries to climb a mountian figuring the blizzard is going to hold off until tomorrow.

Sorry about the rant but every time I go see my Mother and hope that she can recognize me this time I have to think back to how my Sister and Brother carried on about not wanting to take her car keys even though the local police had already told me that I could or they would have to do something drastic. :fie:

 

[eagleks]

Soooo..... they really found nothing unusual .. . the guy owned a few guns and had welding tanks. Whoopee. Sounds like they are just seeing the fact he was digging tunnels as bizarre and trying to play UP the rest. OMG , he has "GUNS". LMAO.

And, he didn't get a 'license' first.....

If the man wants a 3 level basement, so what .... it keeps him busy and out of trouble.

Now, if it's truly a safety issue for neighbors, etc. ..... then next time he can shore it up better.

Someone outside the 'norm' in itself, does not make him a crazy man.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I think we see the bottom line here.

"Codes" were and are promulgated under the excuse of "safety." They are really about taking money and controlling our lives.

No government has the right to force codes on us. A (private) insurance company has a legitimate interest in seeing to what standards your house was built before selling you insurance. But that should be between you and the company (private parties). A fire company responding to your house may have an interest in the type of structure; lacking data, they're more likely to "surround and drown," than to make an aggressive entry and attack. Again, logical.

As far as building or digging something on your own place, and doing a bad job of it, it's YOUR neck. Everyone has the right to go to hell in his own way. As Clint said in the movie, "A man's got to know his limitations." Do something stupid and beyond your limitations, and YOU pay the price. That's life. Or it should be.

As to Adult Protective Services, I got my mother out of Alaska just days ahead of them. We took care of her at home until she died of Alzheimer's. If it's a Goverment "protective service," you can bet it protects the interests of Goverment.

 

[father-of-three]

Hmmm. I guess I will partially buy into the code violation part, but the rest is just scare tactics.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

In the 21st Century American Police State, any sort of serious "preparation" makes you a nutcase and potential terrorist.

Also, "fortification" is a crime. After a friend in prison told me he served with a guy doing more time for hardening his house than for the drugs, I looked into it a bit. Generally, these laws are written in connection with drug laws. The cops do a drug raid and have difficulty breaking the door, and the resident will be charged with a felony for fortifying his home. In MOST states, the raiders actually have to find (or plant) some drugs before they can make the charge of felony fortification. In a FEW states, it only has to be a drug raid, regardless of whether they find nothing at all.

I would imagine they easily found or made up plenty of "crimes" with which to charge this guy. And if he's in the clutches of Adult Protective Services, he's already been declared "insane," and Big Brother is "taking care" of him. In short, he's toast.

You know the drill: Maintain a low profile. Stay out cities. Stock up on Beans, Bullets & Bandaids. This nice old guy forgot about the low profile. He will not get a second chance.