gchildress@heraldsun.com; 419-6645
CHAPEL HILL -- The troubled former owner of The Courtyard at Chapel Hill was arrested Tuesday and charged with resisting, delaying and obstructing law enforcement officers after he refused to heed an eviction notice.
Maj. Charles Blackwood of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that Spencer Young was taken to the Magistrate's Office and placed under a $150 bond, but later released on his own recognizance after a mental evaluation at UNC Hospital.
Blackwood said doctors at UNC and Young's personal doctor in New York determined that Young wasn't a threat to himself or the general public.
Young has a court date scheduled for Feb. 22 in Hillsborough.
Blackwood said the ordeal, which actually began last week, and resulted in the assistance of the SWAT team, required authorities to evacuate the top floor of Young's condominium building at 134 Meadowmont Village Circle in the upscale Meadowmont Village.
He said members of the SWAT team were brought in because authorities had reason to believe Young might have weapons on the premise based on e-mail and telephone conversations with him.
"He said he was going to use his constitutional right to protect his property," Blackwood said.
Deputies found no weapons on the premise after breaching the door to evict Young, Blackwood said.
"We had enough caution that we didn't dare put our blacksmith in harm's way at that door," Blackwood said.
An infant child and Young's girlfriend were also believed to be inside the property, but deputies did not find them upon entering the condo.
Paragon Commercial Bank held the mortgage on the condo, which Young purchased for $360,000 in 2005. The bank was the high bidder on the property at a public auction in December and bought the condo for $281,000.
Charlotte-based Hawthorne Retail Partners took over management of The Courtyard at Chapel Hill last May.
The Courtyard has been the center of controversy in recent years, with property owner Spencer Young and adjacent landowner P.H. Craig sparring over parking.
In 2008, Lex Alexander, owner of the popular 3 Cups coffee shop, bolted for a location on Elliot Road after a series of disputes with Young that got personal. Revelations about unpaid taxes and multimillion-dollar lawsuits began to pile up on Young.
In September Wachovia Bank filed a request for a foreclosure hearing in Orange County Superior Court.
