COLUMBUS, Ohio — The City of Columbus has obtained court orders to shut down a pair of drug houses that City Attorney Zach Klein said have threatened the health and safety of residents in two neighborhoods.
Klein said police have been called numerous times for reported narcotics sales, overdoses and assault and shots fired at the properties located on Woodrow Avenue in Hungarian Village and Loretta Avenue in the North Linden area.
“The City is committed to rooting out drug houses and other problem properties that make our neighborhoods less safe,” said Klein. “By holding property owners accountable and prosecuting the criminals that terrorize our neighborhoods, we’re making our communities safer for residents and families.”
According to court documents, there have been 17 calls for service and complaints by neighbors for the Woodrow Avenue property since the beginning of 2022.
The Columbus Division of Police has received reports of a fight at the property and multiple complaints related to narcotics sales, including fentanyl and heroin.
One witness claimed to have seen more than 100 people coming and going from the location, while another said patrons of the property had been harassing juveniles coming home from school.
In November 2022, police made multiple controlled purchases of drugs from the location. Police then executed a search warrant where they found 87 grams of cocaine, eight grams of heroin, 10 grams of crack cocaine, five grams of fentanyl, as well as three semi-automatic handguns.
Police made another purchase of crack cocaine from the property in January.
The North Linden property has seen approximately 20 calls for service from February 2022 to January 2023. The city attorney’s office said there have been at least two overdoses at the premises in that time.
In September 2022, police responded to the location on the report of 30 rounds of gunfire. Police also executed search warrant in December 2022 due to continued drug activity at the property.