An otherwise unassuming, boarded up home at the corner of North Clinton Avenue and Ketchum Street was operating as a drug house, peddling “poison” less than 300 feet away from a daycare center, city officials say.
Rochester Police Chief David Smith said a search warrant at 1072 N. Clinton Ave. revealed a stash of fentanyl, crack cocaine and powder cocaine packaged for drug sales. Two people ― Jamie Statt of Webster and Stormy Watts of Rochester ― were charged with felony criminal drug possession as a result of the raid.
Police on July 23 also cleared an open-air drug market on a vacant lot on Morrill Street near the home and daycare. And at least four other search warrants over the last month found narcotics and firearms at several locations along the North Clinton corridor, Smith said.
“The folks who live and work in these neighborhoods don’t deserve this,” Smith said during a news conference.
Drug sales fuel shootings, carjackings, fires on North Clinton Ave.
North Clinton Avenue has long been plagued with drug activity.
This year, the strip has seen shootings, a carjacking, gun arrests and several rubbish fires behind vacant buildings. Smith said the increased police presence comes after a drug-related homicide on Oscar Street last month that led to a shootout between a suspect and officers.
In the month since, RPD has stepped up foot and bike patrols along the corridor to foster conversations with community members. Smith and Mayor Malik Evans joined several of the patrols.
“You literally have people who have taken over houses, taken over city lots, for the purposes of injecting poison in the community,” Evans said. “Period. Clearly. That’s your headline. And in doing that, what they were doing was making residents of Ketchum Street, residents of Morrill Street, residents of Oscar Street, residents in certain parts of North Clinton Avenue basically hostages to their own environment.”
Evans claimed many of the people buying drugs off the strip travel in from the suburbs.
“It’s difficult to win the war on drugs,” he said. “But what we can win is the war on lawlessness. That means thinking you can sell drugs right within a stone’s throw of a daycare center.”
How will RPD tackle drug issue on North Clinton Ave?
Smith said police will continue increased patrols in the area and are working with community groups to identify problem areas and provide resources to residents. In coming months, the city will post ‘No Trespassing’ signs on vacant city lots and buildings and will begin arresting and ticketing violators.
“If you decide you are going to bring a tent and you’re going to come down and you’re going to pitch it on a city lot so you can be near your favorite neighborhood drug house for the weekend, you’re going to be arrested and we’re going to take your tent,” Smith said.
Most of the vacant homes in the city are not city-owned, however, and police have and will continue to work with code enforcement, city attorneys and the fire department to conduct routine checks to ensure they remain properly secured, Smith said.
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: This Rochester drug house was less than 300 feet away from a daycare. Police shut it down.
Reporting by Kayla Canne, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
