The incredible chutzpah of Stafford Withers

The front page of this week’s Richmond Free Press has the strange story of 62-year-old Otis Smith Jr. being arrested for tresspassing at the house his family owns at 1308 North 30th Street.

The quick version is this: Smith uses the house as headquarters for a ministry and transitional housing for recently released inmates. Stafford Withers, one of the men staying at the house, did not want to leave when his time was up in May and so went to court, claimed ownership of the house, and swore out a trespassing warrant against Smith. Smith has had to file eviction papers on Withers, still a resident of the house, who has had Smith hit with a second charge of trespassing and a trumped up assault charge.