In December 2014, Philip Williams went to Florida for a procedure, but developed infections that forced further surgery and heart complications, leaving him hospitalized until doctors deemed him medically able to return home in August, according to The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, officials in the town of Hempstead deemed Williams' modest two-story home unfit for habitation and knocked it down.

Williams contends that he never received any of the notices and said he couldn't figure out why the letters were mailed to four separate banks where he never had accounts.

He has filed a notice of claim, the first step in a lawsuit against the town, and also is fighting for public records he believes may show what happened.

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Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)