Randy Quaid and Evi Quaid decided to move into a house that they used to own but no longer do. They broke the place down badly and destroyed property that was the new owner’s during their squatting sojurn – their damage included but was not limited to breaking a $7000 mirror over the fireplace mantle and replacing it with a picture of themselves, carving their initials on the mail box, breaking locks and video surveillance cameras, and trashing the house in general. They also managed to keep the house filthy with footprints everywhere and dirty dishes and clothes strewn about. So when an alarm went off the owner of the house contacted a realtor to go check on it… and what did he discover, the Quaids making themselves at home! Naturally he called the police who promptly arrested the pair charging them with felony residential burglary and entering a noncommercial building illegally – Evi didn’t agree with the cops and was also charged with resisting arrest.
All of this comes on the heels of their recent arrests for running out on hotel bills and failure to appear in court. What is peculiar is that Randy seems to be living the life he portrayed so convincingly in the National Lampoon Vacation series – where he is the freeloader trailor trash cousin of Chevy Chase. It appears that art and reality are interchangeable in this case because there is no other way to describe what Randy has done. But once we have identified the Quaid’s crazy behavior we still have a difficult job explaining it. Randy Quaid is a very successful actor who makes a ton of money so why does he spend his time breaking the law trying to avoid paying for accommodation? Is it the thrill? Is it some sort of sociopathology? Or is he just incredibly cheap? At this point we do not have the answer but when we get to interview the Quaids you can be sure we will ask!
