Crown Point residents say they are facing a criminal charge and lawsuit by The Lake County Courthouse Foundation after they voiced safety concerns via social media last year during the renovation of the courthouse’s historic city courtroom.
Residents held signs that said “Ask us why we can’t go inside” and “Banned, sued and excluded from city events,” outside of the March 23 Mondays with the Mayor gathering at the Old Lake County Courthouse in downtown Crown Point.
Lake Court House Foundation permanently banned five individuals, including a local photographer, from entering the property’s bounds due to allegations of trespassing and defamation. In addition, the foundation pressed a criminal trespassing charge against Samuel Kozaitis, of Crown Point, and filed a civil lawsuit against him and Susan McKendry, of Crown Point, according to Lake Superior Court documents.
“I would say we all feel discriminated against for speaking out about the health and safety for the residents,” Kozaitis said.
Lake Court House Foundation, a domestic nonprofit corporation, declined to comment due to the ongoing nature of the litigation. Court records show that the dispute stemmed from 2025 social media posts, photos and comments about the residents’ safety concerns during the city courtroom renovation.
The Lake Court House Foundation sent cease and desist letters March 10, 2025, to Kozaitis, Susan McKendry, Daniel McKendry and Royce Chenore that cited the following Facebook comment attributed to Kozaitis: “Terrifying! From the looks of it, the contractor doing the demolition doesn’t have any idea what they are doing. That very likely is asbestos tile they ripped out. If that wasn’t handled properly the whole courthouse could have airborne asbestos particulate being circulated throughout the building!”
The foundation wrote, “This statement is not only speculative and inaccurate but also damaging to the integrity of the contractors, project managers, and organizations responsible for the courthouse’s upkeep. Such baseless claims create unnecessary alarm, mislead the public, and can cause reputational and financial harm to those involved.”
In addition, the foundation alleged that the individuals trespassed and took the photos they posted on social media without permission.
In the court documents, the foundation stated the defendants “posted text and images on various Facebook pages and groups regarding the Foundation’s work at the Courthouse. Specifically, Defendants have made Facebook posts and comments regarding the Courthouse, the Foundation, and its directors which contained misleading information or derogatory claims about the individuals.”
In the letter, the foundation called the statement and other posts by the group speculative and damaging, stating it would pursue a lawsuit if the individuals did not remove the posts and issue a public correction.
According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management website, “With the exception of residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units, facilities must be inspected by an Indiana-licensed asbestos inspector before demolition or renovation activities can occur.”
However, in this case, Allen Carter, IDEM Communications Director, said that the Lake Court House Foundation was not required to submit a notification or inspection report before beginning renovations on the room.
“The notification requirements for renovations apply only if regulated asbestos-containing material above certain quantities are involved,” Carter said. “No inspection report was submitted to IDEM, as it was not required under the rule.”
IDEM said it did inspect the site on March 7, 2025, in response to a citizen complaint.
“During that inspection, no violations of Indiana’s asbestos regulations were observed,” said Barry Sneed of IDEM Communications Department.
In the same notice, the organization issued a permanent ban against the individuals from entering the courthouse and the surrounding grounds.
“We have been subjected to ongoing harassment and retaliation, culminating in our exclusion from a public building that is meant to serve the entire community,” said Michelle Kozaitis, of Crown Point. “As a result of this ban, the city is now holding multiple public events inside the courthouse that we are prohibited from attending. One of the individuals banned is a veteran who can no longer participate in the city’s Veterans Day events held there. Families like ours are unable to take our grandchildren to see the Easter Bunny or Santa. If a friend were to host a wedding reception in the courthouse, we would be barred from attending. These are meaningful community events, and we are being unfairly excluded from them.”
Another document related to the case states that a St. John Police Department officer was reprimanded for delivering trespass letters from the Lake Court House Foundation to the defendants. A letter from St. John Police Department Chief Steven Flores states the corporal was wearing a police uniform and using a squad car while serving the notices.
More Top Picks Best Lg Refrigerators
As a result, the officer was reprimanded for violating police department policy, including loss of take-home squad privileges and suspension from off-duty employment. In the letter, Flores also apologized on behalf of the department to Samuel Kozaitis, stating the conduct “did not align with proper authorization or procedure, and I understand why this situation is troubling.”
In February, The Lake Court House Foundation filed a criminal charge against Samuel Kozaitis for trespassing inside the Old Lake County Courthouse. According to the police report, Dave Bryan, second vice-president of the Lake Court House Foundation, filed the complaint July 7, 2025, with the Crown Point Police Department. The case is ongoing with the next hearing date on May 19 in Crown Point City Court.
In the police trespass case, a surveillance image was provided to police as evidence of alleged trespass on June 23, 2025, in which people are shown seated in the audience during a Mondays with the Mayor gathering.
Regarding the original trespassing allegations, the group said that they were with a photographer who was a paying tenant of a studio space next to the renovated courtroom when they took photos of the space under renovation.
Chenore, a professional photographer, said the studio space he paid $1,680 monthly for became unusable during the courtroom renovation. People had to cross through the courtroom to enter and exit his rented space, and his studio was also a thoroughfare for maintenance access.
Chenore said he met with Susan McKendry and Samuel Kozaitis at a city meeting, and initially sparked a conversation about Chenore’s family photography services.
“He said, ‘After the meeting, would you guys want to come over and look at my photography studio? Because it’s completely covered in dust, and I can’t work in my studio because of what they’re doing there,” Susan McKendry said. “So we were like, ‘Yeah, sure, we’ll come look at it. So we walked over there and when we got there, the doors of the courtroom were wide open, and there was dust emanating everywhere because there were two employees in the courtroom dry sweeping the construction debris, and it was everywhere — out in the hallway, all over the courtroom, it was like a cloud of dust.”
Susan McKendry said after they went to Chenore’s rented space, they began looking into the renovation.
“We talked to him about what was going on with the dust and all that stuff and when we left there, all three of us were kind of like, ‘This is crazy. This guy’s getting exposed to whatever is in that stuff. There’s a candy store downstairs. There’s a restaurant that’s downstairs. There’s a kids’ clothing store, there’s a kids’ toy store,’ so we were concerned about people’s health.”
Dust, unaddressed concerns he had about safety, and renovation foot traffic were affecting his ability to do business, Chenore said. Chenore said he had signed a lease for the space but later received an eviction letter with “no reason given.”
“You couldn’t walk in there without a mask,” Chenore said. “It was terrible. You couldn’t even see. It was foggy, you couldn’t even see, but yet, I’m supposed to operate my business out of there. They never told me anything. Nor did they ever compensate me for the loss of business.… I had to find a new place (for my business). I had nowhere to go.”
Chenore said he noticed debris and dust in the air in his studio as he watched renovation progress in 2025 on the flooring, trim work, seating and knee wall. He said when he reached out to the foundation with concerns and questions, there was no response.
“I couldn’t bring customers through there,” Chenore said. “In fact, they even gave me a notice that I couldn’t even enter my own space. At one time, they gave me a notice and said, ‘Stay out.… From day one, very poor communication, no management, no office manager, nobody answers the phone. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. If you had a problem, forget it.”
Banned from the Old Lake County Courthouse, Chenore said his business, which includes photography at weddings and special events, continues to be impacted after moving out of the space.
“After I moved out, they served me the (no trespassing) papers — that I can never get back in,” Chenore said. “The problem that I have with that is, if (a client) called me and he said, ‘Royce, I’m getting married and my wedding is at The Grand,’ I cannot take work there. They’re denying me work. I have to tell my client that I can’t work in that building. And they’re going to look at me and say, ‘What?’ So I’m losing money.”
The civil case is ongoing in Lake Superior Court, Civil Division 5. The residents involved said they are being represented by an attorney in Dyer.
“This whole situation is about personal ego of specific members of the board, with the complete disregard for the public that utilize that building and I truly believe they should not be in charge of that building,” Susan McKendry said.
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.