Fairpark ‘hate crime’ may have been a roommate dispute

What looked like a hate crime, complete with the word FAGS spray-painted on a bedroom door in the Fairpark neighborhood of Salt Lake City is now being investigated as an alleged dispute between roommates.

Michael Lentz posted on Facebook Friday, Sept. 20 that someone entered his home, stole thousands of dollars’ worth of his belongings and his dog, and spray-painted his door with the word “FAGS” and a paw print.

“So today I came home to find I was robbed again. They took everything of value from the house, [including] thousands of dollars worth of electronics, gear and leather. Then to make things worse they stole my dog. My sweet little pug Gil is missing. They were so kind as to make it a hate crime by spray painting my door. If you see my dog, please let me know,” Lentz wrote.

Luckily, his dog has been returned to him, having been found by a family at Liberty Park, without tags, miles from his home.

Three GoFundMe campaigns were set up, one by Lentz’ mother to help him replace his belongings and find a new, safer place to live, another by members of the pups and Handlers community to replace his leather and pup gear, and another purportedly by the mother of roommate Jimmy Daniels, who is also gay.

“I am raising money for my son, Mike Lentz. He has been robbed twice. This time it is an obvious Hate Crime, they even took his dog,” Julie Lentz wrote in the GoFundMe description. That campaign has raised nearly $4,695. “Two pup friends of mine house was just broken into and the person stole all of their gear and also their dog. Not only did the person [steal] their valuable and personal belongings, they also vandalized the place. A bunch of gear was stolen which included multiple leather and neoprene gear, specifically pup hoods. Pup meeko received his neoprene pup hood literally today and now it is gone. I am making this page to help them retrieve or possibly buy new gear so they can move past this horrible situation,” wrote bruiser. That campaign has raised $705. The campaign for Daniels is listed as being created by his mother, Betty Oakley, but emails and phone calls to her from QSalt- Lake for verification have gone unreturned. “My Son, Jimmy Daniels house was burglarized and vandalized,” the campaign description reads. “All of their electronics, video games, over $1000 cash, leather clothing. ... His friends already moved out over the weekend and I found my son alone and depressed sleeping in his bedroom with all the doors locked. He was recently hospitalized for his depression and has seizures, so it’s very dangerous for him to be left alone.” The fundraiser for Daniels raised $1,335. At the time Salt Lake City Police Department detectives confirmed they were investigating the alleged crimes as a hate crime. Since then, however, much of the stolen goods have been retrieved from the house of Daniels’ sister and police are looking into him as being the perpetrator.

QSaltLake Magazine received photos of leather gear and computer equipment at Daniels’ sister’s house that Lentz’ partner, Wyatt Maki, says was theirs and have been returned to them. Maki said that some of their belongings are still missing, and that Daniels may have been stealing packages being delivered to the apartment since they all moved in together.

“Thankfully it wasn’t a hate crime.” Maki said. “Unfortunately it was someone we lived with who’s shown he’s untrustworthy. Michael and I have moved into another place and we are safe.” Q