The Ypsilanti Mobile Village’s owner again filed for bankruptcy hours before a hearing in what Ypsilanti Township officials say is a move to deliberately delay an order to clean up the property.

This time, however, Dominic D’Mello, whose Cormello LLC owns the abandoned Michigan Avenue trailer park, was facing jail time for failing to demolish and clear the park.

“This is the second time he waited until the day of the hearing to avoid his day of reckoning,” Ypsilanti Township Attorney Doug Winters said.

In December, Cormello LLC filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit just hours before D’Mello was to appear in Washtenaw County Circuit Court for a show cause hearing. That placed a stay on any further legal action against D’Mello.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge ruled at an emergency appeal a week later that the bankruptcy didn't protect D’Mello from the township seeking to enforce its ordinances. D’Mello was subsequently ordered by Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Donald Shelton in February to finish clearing the park in 45 days or go to jail.

Winters said D’Mello filed for personal bankruptcy in Detroit at at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. He was scheduled to be in Washtenaw County Circuit Court at 1:30 p.m. for a hearing at which Township officials were prepared to provide evidence that little of the court ordered work had been completed since February.

Photographs provided by the township show two structures standing. Also on the site are piles of garbage and debris, tie-downs and concrete pads on which the trailers sat, uncapped sewer lines and electrical boxes, and other above-ground electric utilities.

Per the court order, the buildings are to be demolished and all other items removed.

Winters said it was demonstrated in December that the bankruptcy stay does not preclude the township or the court from enforcing its orders. He said the township will file for an emergency hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and is hopeful to have a hearing next week.

Winters said he will make it clear to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge that the move was deliberate to avoid going to jail.

“He obviously doesn’t have any respect for the community that he did business in, he doesn’t respect court orders, but he will use that same system to avoid going to jail,” Winters said. “He's going to be held accountable, and at some point this is going to come to an end.”

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.