DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Daytona Beach neighborhood is begging for help after dealing with a nuisance house for months. Police have already raided the home on North Oleander Avenue, where they recovered drugs and arrested squatters.
Eyewitness News asked Police Chief Jakari Young why it’s taking so long to shut the house down.
Young said the owner, who has been arrested before, is allowing all of these people to live there, and after they get out of jail, they all just go right back.
With signs in hand and frustration on their faces, more than a dozen neighbors shared stories of sleepless nights because of scary activity at a nearby house.
“The city commissions known about it, the mayor’s known about it, but nothing’s happened,” said Gary Stalker.
“I sleep with a stainless-steel sheet behind my bed because I am afraid I’m going to get shot,” said another neighbor.
Chief Young said the home on N Oleander Avenue has more than 20 people living inside.
“The homeowner is allowing these individuals, these addicts, to pile up into that house where they’re doing meth and engaging in all kinds of illegal activities,” said Young.
We tried to approach the homeowner, but she refused to answer our questions.
Getting the house permanently shut down takes several steps.
Police have already started the process by launching a drug investigation and adding more patrols. Code compliance is also working on its own case.
Eventually, both investigations will be brought before the nuisance abatement board.
“We are trying to do surgery so we fix this issue long term and not just that location, there’s other homes in that area that we’ve identified as nuisance properties,” said Chief Young,
His officers served a search warrant on the home in conjunction with the DEA on January 8. They took multiple people into custody, but Young said most only spent a handful of days in jail.
His hope is for the nuisance abatement board to agree to shut the home down for a year, which will give the owner time to either sell the home or come into compliance. Police have already raided the home on North Oleander Avenue, where they recovered drugs and arrested squatters.
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