Diana Peng, 42, now faces firearms, narcotics and animal neglect charges after San Francisco police searched the disputed Sea Cliff mansion where she had been squatting.
Peng, a felon who cannot legally possess firearms, pleaded not guilty and was released under strict conditions including an ankle monitor, weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and a 150-yard stay-away order from the $4.4 million property at 250 32nd Ave. She cannot have guns or animals while the case proceeds.
The search that triggered the new charges yielded seven “neglected” dogs, methamphetamine, a firearm and what law enforcement described as a “sheer amount” of ammunition. Assistant District Attorney Victoria Robinson reportedly told the court that the ammunition indicated an “increasing level of criminality.”
Rita Williams, a neighbor, had repeatedly contacted city officials about sounds of distressed dogs coming from the mansion. “It’s been sad and horrifying,” Williams told SFGate, referring to the two adult pit bulls, four puppies and a 4-month-old dog officers discovered inside.
The property sits in Sea Cliff, one of San Francisco’s most elite and affluent neighborhoods, and has become a source of intense frustration for residents who say unfamiliar faces have rotated through the home at all hours for roughly a year. “It really has been a 24-hour surveillance that’s going on,” one neighbor said. “People are at a breaking point.”
The city’s legal battle over the mansion runs parallel to Peng’s criminal case. San Francisco officials accused Peng and fellow alleged squatter Brandon Aadee of using forged and altered deeds to claim the property and attempt to sell it for profit. The legitimate deed belongs to Wei Wang, an absentee Chinese owner who investigators say has struggled to enter the United States to secure the property and has fallen years behind on taxes. Last month, the city put the house up for auction to recoup unpaid taxes.
Neighbors believe the property was abandoned around 2020. A group of roughly a dozen people began appearing shortly after, with some apparently moving in. Residents complained to the city about a damaged water main outside the mansion that caused flooding, plus stolen property and fears of intruders in their own homes.
Peng’s criminal history includes a March 2008 felony perjury conviction in San Mateo County that brought three years’ probation and 90 days in jail. In 2012, facing five felonies including forgery and using another person’s ID, she pleaded to identity theft and commercial burglary and served seven months.
California law prevents Peng from being detained pending trial for nonviolent crimes, which allowed her release despite the new charges. The district attorney said the investigation remains ongoing and is separate from the broader property dispute.
Following the police search, the mansion has been boarded up with “No Trespassing” signs, according to local reports.