A man lived in a secret apartment in the middle of a shopping centre for four years until he was eventually busted by security. Michael Townsend was left with nowhere to go after he was evicted from his old flat by his landlord, who wanted to develop the property.
While trying to figure out his options, he heard a radio advert for the mall and remembered that he had once discovered an empty room in the building, the Mirror reports. After going on a search for the hidden space and finding it still unused, Townsend moved in along with one of his pals. They soon turned the 750-square-foot flat into a home, adding a sofa, dining table and even a PlayStation.
The local artist first came across an unusual doorway beneath Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island, USA, while out on his daily run in 1999. Upon further inspection, he discovered a completely abandoned space, which looked like it had been built almost by accident because of the formation of the purposely designed areas around it.
On his website, he said: "During the Christmas season of 2003 and 2004, radio ads for the Providence Place Mall featured an enthusiastic female voice talking about how great it would be if you (we) could live at the mall. The central theme of the ads was that the mall not only provided a rich shopping experience but also had all the things that one would need to survive and lead a healthy life."
Townsend revisited the room he had spotted back in 1999 and discovered that it remained unused so he decided to see if he and his friends could in fact live at the mall. He said: "The new plan wasn't just to live in the mall for just a week, it was now simply to live in the mall."
Townsend and his pals also built a breeze block wall and utility door to keep it hidden. They lived in relative peace for four years before the plan began to unravel. Before being caught, Townsend had plans to install wood flooring, a second bedroom and a kitchen.
Eventually, security guards found the secret property. One day, the artists, who had sworn not to speak about the apartment with anyone else, found their utility door kicked in and their PlayStation, art and photo album gone.
In response, they took extra precautions, including only using the apartment at night. But little did they know that the security guards had been responsible for the break-in and had been staking it out ever since, ready to pounce on its inhabitants.
And that's exactly what they did when they spotted Townsend one afternoon. He was consequently charged with trespassing. He insisted that "the entire endeavour was done out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper."
He was given probation by a judge but was banned from the mall for life. The Providence Journal reported that only Townsend and his now ex-wife Adriana Young identified themselves as being mall dwellers.
But he remained in touch with the rest of the artists who were involved in the ruse. After all these years, Townsend, who still lives in the area, said: "I really wish I could go back."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond- Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
