Kent Co. home shut down after DOJ investigation
A Kent County property was shut down after a DOJ investigation declared the home as a site for drug activity, in Delaware.
The Delaware Department of Justice says they closed a house that was apart of an open-air drug market and evicted the residents after declaring the home as a "Criminal nuisance property." Officials say the property, near Greenwood, was a part of a focus by a team of DOJ attorney and investigators targeting such properties.
The DOJ says the property at 118 Unity Lane, known as "The Hole," was a site for drug transactions for some time. In reference to the property, authorities say the dirt road that leads to the home has been dug up, causing police vehicles and other vehicles must slow down considerably while entering the road, which allows criminal suspects to flee the area through the nearby woods.
After the criminal nuisance action was filed, alleging the property to be a source of criminal activity and " blight to the surrounding community." A Superior Court judge granted permanent Abatement Relief against the property, on July 7. According to the report, the order banned Frank Lovett, Latasha Lovett, Annette Stevens, Lucy Lovett, Charles Lovett and Taquen Owens from the property and declared the property be shut down for a period of two years.
Officials say that Frank Lovett has pending charges for organized crime and racketeering, drug dealing, conspiracy second degree, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Authorities say on August 4, DOJ investigators, Delaware State Police, and members of the Kent County Governor's Task Force escorted occupants out of the Unity Lane home and barricaded the house, posting a sign that declared it to be a criminal nuisance property.
In a statement, Delaware attorney General Matt Denn said, "One or two properties with criminal activity can bring down an entire neighborhood and cause innocent residents in the area to live their lives in. That's why our office has worked so hard over the last year to target such properties. I commend the troopers, attorneys and investigators who worked to close this property in The Hole, and who have impacted other properties as well through our focused efforts."
The DOJ listed the following properties as sites of drug activity and prostitution and targeted them as criminal nuisance properties:
1107 Washington Street, New Castle; 16 Defoe Circle, Newark; 121 E. Lockwood Street, Middletown; 867 N. Broad Street, Middletown (The Water Lily); and 2614 Thatcher Street, Wilmington
Officials say the state's Criminal Nuisance Abatement act empowers the Attorney General "to eliminate locations that otherwise attract criminals, violence and the threat of violence," as stated in Title 10, Section 7102 of the Delaware Code. The DOJ thanks the attorneys, investigators, and Delaware State Police for their work on this case.
