Trash, bullets and feces found in former Sonic Swift's squalid home
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SAMMAMISH, Wash. -- It wasn't the pile of beer bottles or the smashed glass on the fireplace. It wasn't even the El Camino sitting in the driveway, unable to move because it has no engine.
It was the smell.
"The first thing you get when you walk in the door is kind of whiff of whatever is festering in here," said Jessica Ko-Dalzell. She and her husband Eric now own a mansion on a hill Sammamish.
The house was owned by former Seattle Sonic and first round pick Robert Swift. He lost the home to foreclosure last year. The Dalzells bought it, but Swift has been living in it ever since.
"He never came to the door, he never talked to any of us. We came multiple times. We sent him letters. We left him letters," Ko-Dalzell said.
At some point this past weekend, Swift and others moved out of the home. The Dalzells had their first full look inside Monday.
"It was a shocker. It was definitely a shocker," Eric said.
Animal feces clogs the deck. Walls are punched out on different levels of the house. One even has an autograph. Pizza boxes and beer bottles are piled on the kitchen granite.
Multiple guns were found in the home. Some appear to be air guns, but live ammo was also found. Dalzell said they also found a handgun.
A makeshift shooting range is in the basement storage area. Eric Dalzell said load-bearing beams have graze marks from bullets, and part of the home's foundation appeared to stop some of the slugs.
A box of letters from colleges around the nation sat pushed against a downstairs wall. It looked like another trash box. Crests and logos of UCLA, Arizona, UConn and others are jammed together as untold memories of what could have been for Swift.
He never attended one of those powerhouse schools. He didn't even open some of the letters. Swift was drafted right out of high school to play in Seattle as a pro.
After injuries and a stint playing in Japan, he moved back to his mansion in Sammamish. Only now, with the threat of eviction looming, Swift left the house on the hill.
The house that wasn't his anymore.
It was the smell.
"The first thing you get when you walk in the door is kind of whiff of whatever is festering in here," said Jessica Ko-Dalzell. She and her husband Eric now own a mansion on a hill Sammamish.
The house was owned by former Seattle Sonic and first round pick Robert Swift. He lost the home to foreclosure last year. The Dalzells bought it, but Swift has been living in it ever since.
"He never came to the door, he never talked to any of us. We came multiple times. We sent him letters. We left him letters," Ko-Dalzell said.
At some point this past weekend, Swift and others moved out of the home. The Dalzells had their first full look inside Monday.
"It was a shocker. It was definitely a shocker," Eric said.
Animal feces clogs the deck. Walls are punched out on different levels of the house. One even has an autograph. Pizza boxes and beer bottles are piled on the kitchen granite.
Multiple guns were found in the home. Some appear to be air guns, but live ammo was also found. Dalzell said they also found a handgun.
A makeshift shooting range is in the basement storage area. Eric Dalzell said load-bearing beams have graze marks from bullets, and part of the home's foundation appeared to stop some of the slugs.
A box of letters from colleges around the nation sat pushed against a downstairs wall. It looked like another trash box. Crests and logos of UCLA, Arizona, UConn and others are jammed together as untold memories of what could have been for Swift.
He never attended one of those powerhouse schools. He didn't even open some of the letters. Swift was drafted right out of high school to play in Seattle as a pro.
After injuries and a stint playing in Japan, he moved back to his mansion in Sammamish. Only now, with the threat of eviction looming, Swift left the house on the hill.
The house that wasn't his anymore.
I like how everyone is slamming KOMO about this story. It's about a local sports "hero" that went to zero. A story of how a once great athlete was brought back down to mortal reality. At least he could afford his Coors. Did you see the illegal knives on the pool table too? I wonder if he had any part in the criminal activities plaguing Seattle. I hope the dog is alright.
Its really NOT that unusual that people will trash a house when they are being evicted or foreclosed on. They get angry. Â Did they really NEED to report this, just because of WHO he is? Â Â I think these NEW OWNERS (who go a steal on this house) are being snarky, and should be ASHAMED of themselves for even giving this to a news station. Â
@SlingerssÂ
I agree! This is not news and should have not been made public.
And how is this our business? Let's all vilify this man on the side of the bank that holds his foreclosure .Bad evil man, how dare you go broke and trash the bank's house ! Let's all take KOMO's lead and have a hate fest even though we don't know you personally. Let's run this article for weeks on end until absolutely everyone knows what we think of you. Bad bad man !
Just wondering, does KOMO give the same treatment to every trashed home or is this just an attempt to hurt a specific person? Shame on you KOMO!
kickem when their up. kickem when their down .if that dont work....call them mental . as the world turns.. blu blu blu someone wants money!
Placing bullets for a real gun next to an Airsoft gun - nice work komo! -- That's sarcasm btw... I wonder: does anyone at komo actually call themselves a 'Journalist'?
I honestly cannot believe the new owners of this house actually GAVE A NEWS STATION PHOTOS of all this!! That in itself is a blatant and desperate move for publicity and attention, and an absolutely despicable move on their part. They are breaching his privacy, disparaging his character, and contributing and possibly starting new rumors about this guy. I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure they are opening themselves up to a MAJOR lawsuit. SHAME ON THEM for trying to attract attention to themselves at his expense!!!!! And shame on KOMO for allowing this type of story to even become "news" in the first place.
@Hipster85Â I don't understand why people are mad at the buyers, I'd be upset too if I bought a house, with feces and crap all over. Just because you don't pay your bills or choose to walk away from your home doesn't mean you completely trash someone else's property. Good luck with the lawsuit. The new owners have every right to complain and say look what these slobs did to banks property.
Congratulations, KOMO, your story has gone viral! Mr. Humbert, your article is condescending and derogatory. I presume you've never faced foreclosure yourself. I hope your station's other coverage of foreclosure has been at least tactful. Maybe after you've left your job, another reporter can rummage through your cubicle and critique your life choices!
The buyers of the home bought a foreclosure, facing adverse possession. They knew, or should have, what they were getting into. Mr. Swift was under no obligation, legal or moral, to clean up for the new owners, let alone roll out the welcome mat! Some companies offered homeowners move-out fees of several thousand dollars to leave the property clean. Based on the video, I believe Mr. Swift left firearms with value far exceeding that amount!
As for Mr. Swift's career decisions, he made a lot of money by jumping to the NBA. If he had gone to college he might have suffered a career ending injury, or perhaps, against college level talent, shown his potential to be somewhat less than that projected when he was drafted. He's under no obligation to jeopardize his financial windfall to supplement some university's coffers for a few years. NBA teams make their decisions and live with the results. To somehow paint this as a failing of Mr. Swift is misplaced.Â
It's probably good for him that he left all that stuff there. Hopefully he can move on with his life without the baggage. He doesn't owe Seattle, Sonic's fans or the Dalzells anything!
Thank you for such a considerate response to this news story. It was well articulated and very generous.
People shouldn't judge someone without knowing the whole story.
A lot of people wreck houses that are foreclosing, so I'm not sure why everyone is acting like this is completely outrageous. It isn't uncommon at all to run into something like this. As for this guy, despite a lot of people are claiming he could of been mentally ill, I think he was just dirty and partied a lot. Just because you have garbage all over your house doesn't mean you are mentally ill...you could just be gross.
Maybe it was outrageous because he refused to simply leave, even after the property was sold...
What do you expect from thugs like Swift?  He'd probably already be in jail now or out selling meth if it weren't for his skills as a ball player when he was younger. Trash, just plain trailer park trash.
While I agree the vast majority of athletes don't have the maturity (just out of high school)  to handle the demands of life, much less the responsibilties that come with instant fame and fortune, one example I will cite who has (so far) shown incredible maturity is Bryce Harper. Probably because he had a strong family support during his formative years who taught him how to handle it. Plus they still help him keep his head straight. It all starts with the family.
This has to be a case of mental illness. Another example of the stigma of mental illness in this country: just read the comments calling him a loser and bringing race into it. It's also another vote for not allowing the NBA to draft right out of high school. Yea, it worked for LeBron, but for how many has it not? Very sad story.
It is truly sad to see the ignorance displayed on this page. Thank you Gail for sharing your insight into this young men who's obviously mentally ill.
He's useless !
What I hate is that we pay these people a lot of money. I have no sympathy for him at all. What a total LOSER!!!!!!!
i wonder if all you bleeding hearts would be " so sad" if this was a black guy? Hmmmmmmm. DOUBT IT!Â
"Oh he deserved it." Â
"Well what do you expect? The brothas never save their money wisely"
"That's what he gets"
"He's just like those rappers with all the jewelry and cars and no sense"
I know you would because that's what was said about Allen Iverson.Â
Take off the hood bigots.Â
We dont know the whole story about Swift, but you all give HIM the benefit of the doubt.
@MaybackRider50 I'm white and this this guy is a slob who should be forced to come back and put the house in the shape it was when he bought it or pay a cleaning crew to clean it up!
I'd say you're being just as racist by assuming white people wouldn't feel sorry for a black man in this same situation. Shame on you for making such an assumption!!
@MaybackRider50Â I'm not from Seattle, nor follow basketball. It didn't occur to me, what race Robert Swift is. I guess he's white. "Allen Iverson"? That sounds Swedish, no, Norwegian. I gather not.
This news story is link bait. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected after reading that awful headline! Seems like, no, I am certain, that whomever wrote this didn't need to disclose the identity of the former homeowner. It would have gathered plenty of attention without that. Instead, it could have been written as a consumer education article, about purchasing a foreclosed home.
Robert Swift wasn't necessarily mentally ill. He wasn't a "useless loser". He probably feels sad, depressed about losing his house. I would. He wasn't destitute, as he left behind many items of value. Also, there were other people living with him, so he couldn't have been too terrible. It is a sad story, but this isn't  "responsible" journalism. As others said, maybe Robert Swift can leave the past behind now, along with the old boxes and that house, and move on to something new, better.
@MaybackRider50
 you took alot of privilege with your assumptions. I am white and think this guy is an idiot regardless of his skin color.
your the only bigot I see here, your probably not one to let a self made opportunity to pull the race card pass you by,  Just keep that racist train goingI cant believe this is still headlining this morning ,besides it looks like half the photos were staged ...a lot of hype here?
Stop whining over this kid. He need to grow the hell up like the rest of the world, he had a dream most in life will never get a chance at, and he blew it, live with it. But why i'm i going to shed tears, he should have taken his butt to college. Agent's use players every day, that's what they do, sorry he didn't have family around, or did he? Any case, welcome to the real world.Â
I agree, this kid may have been a good player in the NBA with a couple years under his belt in college. At the least his maturity level to say the least should have grown. He is a perfect case for kids jumping straight to the league before their ready. All of a sudden the Sonic's leave town, and for what ever reason he doesn't make the squad ,now all of a sudden he's left behind in the real world. A kid with no degree, all his so called friends and groppie's gone, agent disapear, time to grow up.
Jesus, leave the guy alone. He just needs to figure out how to be a part of regular society, like the rest of us.
I feel uncomfortable reading about his downfall. We all have had or or may someday have unfortunate circumstances in our lives-- do we want them to be displayed in public? The reporters who are releasing these photos are setting themselves up for some serious bad karma...and the people buying the house.
What the point of showing this. It looks like he needs help more that anything.Sometimes things go wrong and it does not help to be ridicule on local TV.Â
Why would anyone buy a home without looking at it first, the couple that bought this place are idiots.
@Crimsonkid Did you see who bought the house? Everybody knows it was a cash deal with drug money
@BuddyHolly are all cash purchases drug money or are you just jealous you don't have that kind of savings?  probably the latter
@Crimsonkid It was a foreclosure. Didn't you read the article?
@victory1
Still, to put out money for something unseen? Must be nice to have that kind of extra green.
@cdawg2610 Oh. My. God. I don't know whether to laugh or cry or both???
@ruinsoftime I know the levels of wrong are just overwhelming. he is so the poster case for college before the WNBA
@cdawg2610 Exactly, in this case, I totally for the 2-years-college-before-NBA rule
@cdawg2610 like everyone who plays for Ohio State leave after a year or two ROFL
@cdawg2610 Yep, and I think one year would be fine in regards to those who are ready out of high school i.e. LeBron, Brandon Jennings, etc.
@ruinsoftime yup - I am a firm believer that one or two years of college make for much better players overall
Kid has serious issues. Â I'm sure all of his blood sucking friends care greatly about him too.
How awesome is it that the entire City now knows what a disgusting swine he is. One that can't pay his bills either His Mom must be proud!Â
Have you ever seen the show hoarders? Those people are swine! This is just a dirty batchelor who didn't pick up after his dog and partied a lot. @Shelly- would you be willing to post a public picture of YOUR house for the rest of us to judge? Doubt it.
He paid 1.3 million, owed 1 million when it was foreclosed, and it sold for 600K. So, you and I essentially paid the difference.Â
No, we didn't pay anything, the bank did. Tax payers don't foot the lose on personal loans.
@TheNewsChick I came upon Swift last summer, after he crashed his motorcycle in Sammamish. Sad story. :(
Money No Mo Schooling = Money No Mo
Filthy, yes. Some damage, but could have been TRASHED under the circumstances.Its not entirely uncommon for vagrants to break into foreclosed homes and sleep in them. That might explain some of the mess as well as the so-called animal feces. That or Swift is a disgusting pig.
That ammo is worth good money, they should auction it....
:)