Convicted squatter arrested again; previously claimed religion protects her from prosecution

CHARLOTTE — A convicted squatter has been arrested again after police said she barricaded herself inside an east Charlotte home and punched a cop while trying to avoid eviction.

Channel 9 first started investigating Ninti El-Bey in 2015, when police arrested her for squatting in a Piper Glen home. She claimed her religion protects her from prosecution, but this week, El-Bey is back behind bars.

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Neighbors told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz she’s terrorized them for months.

According to records, an eviction notice was put out in April 2022 trying to get El-Bey out of the house. Last week, she was forced out by police. They said it didn’t happen without a fight.

Neighbors described what it was like to live near her.

“She had a big witch’s cauldron in the back she would burn,” said Mike Kowalski.

He lives next door and said it was about time she was removed.

“She’s gone around the neighborhood a few times with a blow horn yelling at people to get off her indigenous property,” he said.

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Last Thursday, officers tried removing El-Bey from the home. They said she punched an officer in the eye, was pepper-sprayed, and then hid in a closet until an officer kicked the door down and arrested her.

“You know, maybe that’s the thing that got her -- she did that one dumb thing to swing at a cop,” Kowalski said.

El-Bey has greeted Kowalski before by flipping him off. He showed Sáenz where he said she also sprayed oil on his home.

Katy Ascencio Flores said El-Bey did the same to her parent’s house and even sprayed her brother with the oil.

On Monday, nobody was home when Sáenz knocked. The door handle had a lock on it and ejection paperwork was posted on the door.

Channel 9 has covered El-Bey before. She was arrested for trespassing after police say she was squatting at a home in Piper Glen in 2015. A judge found her guilty in that case, and now, she’s facing similar charges years later with another set of neighbors.

Ninti El-Bey is charged with trespassing, assault on a government official, and resisting arrest. She claims she is a Moorish sovereign citizen -- a group that law enforcement says is often tied to squatting incidents.

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