Blight Beat: Ypsilanti Township condemns drug house occupied by three young children
1440 Gattegno Street in Ypsilanti Township.
Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com
Ypsilanti Township officials have condemned a house where three children were living in dangerous conditions and the parents were arrested following a recent drug raid.
Neighbors complained to the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department and township officials that residents were allegedly selling drugs out of the house at 1440 Gattegno Street.
LAWNET and Sherriff’s Department officials raided the home and were accompanied by Ypsilanti Township building inspectors. Seven people were living at the address, including two parents, three children under 7 years of age, a grandmother and friends of the parents.
Several of the adults were arrested and the children are either with other relatives or being taken care of by a county agency. The adults remain jailed.
Building inspectors found the house covered in mouse feces and in a deteriorated condition.
But Ron Fulton, the township’s building director, said his biggest concerns were the bedrooms where the children slept. The three bedrooms were in a finished basement, which had junk and debris piled to the ceiling.
Fulton said the work to build the bedrooms was completed without permits, there were no smoke alarms, there were no egress windows. The children likely would have been trapped in the basement if a fire broke out, he said.
Additionally, inspectors found dangerous wiring throughout the house that hadn’t been completed by professionals and presented a fire hazard.
Officials also found significant mold growth throughout the home.
“We have placarded it as unfit to live in and the children have been sent elsewhere,” Fulton told the Board of Trustees during a presentation on the home at the Board’s March 26 meeting.
The Board authorized staff to take legal action if the home isn’t brought up to code.
Comments
Unknown
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 : 6:02 p.m.
After reading this article, I now question the validity of the rest of the articles I have read on here. The family spoken about in this article is like a second family to me. I have known them for 10 years of my life, as well as been in that home daily. My first correction would be that no one was taken into custody... Adults or children. Everyone was asked to leave the home BUT only while they repair the home. My second correction is the children... 3 children did not live in this home! There were 2 children in this home, and they occupied the upstairs rooms. Third, the household was not a drug house. It was a home that the SAME family has lived in for more than 30 years, and ONE person happened to make a bad choice as far as drugs. This house has been cleaned out, and the necessary steps are being made to make this home livable again. Everyone in this household worked, and the children were very well taken care of. I wish I could upload a copy of the paperwork provided by the county commissioner regarding the household, since none of the information in the above article was in that paperwork. The family is NOT in jail, and they are in fact trying to repair their home after such a tragic situation. All my love and support is with this family!!! And on another note... The children are with their mother and doing just fine!
Lynette
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 : 3:43 p.m.
Please do not Judge this family if you do not know who they are or what happened! you never know, you could be the next one that something happens too, and the truth gets all turned around. I am a family friend, and the 3 children where not in danger and did not sleep in the basement. This is a very good family, and because of one person this whole family was kicked out of a home they lived in there whole lives. Instead of Judging we should pray for this family. Gotta love how something happens and it can turn into lies.....
amy
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 : 6:25 a.m.
WELL FIRST OF ALL I AM WITH STARR ON THIS ONE, I AM ALSO A VERY CLOSE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY....AND NOOOOO NOBODY EVEN GOT ARRESTED FOR 1, FOR 2 NOOO THE KIDS DID NOT SLEEP IN THE BASEMENT, AND FOR 3 NOT EVERYBODY IN THAT HOUSE WAS DEALING WITH DRUGS. LIKE SHE SAID ALSO, THAT FAMILY IS VERY VERY DEVASTATED AND ARE OUT HERE STRUGGLING VERY HARD RIGHT NOW. THEY HAVE LIVED IN THAT HOME THEIR WHOLE LIVES PRACTICALLY. THE ANN ARBOR NEWS WAS TOLD A HUGE LIE AND ITS NOT THEIR FAULT BUT IT IS THE POLICE'S FAULT FOR MAKING THINGS SEEM MUCH WORSE THAN THEY REALLY ARE. THE KIDS ARE WITH THEIR PARENTS, MATTER OF FACT I SEEN ONE OF THE CHILDREN TODAY. PEOPLE PLEASE STOP BELIEVEING EVERYTHING U HEAR. THANK YOU AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO THAT FAMILY
star
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 : 1:55 a.m.
This information is far from wrong, the parents are not jailed, and it was not a drug house..I am a friend of the family and because of one person that came into the house, (not a family member) it is being called a drug house? The children did not sleep downstairs..The family is devastated and trying very hard to get their house back into order working very hard. People are struggling to get by nowadays..we should be going after the big drug dealers and other criminals rather trying to force a family out on the street with nowhere to go,
amy
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 : 6:26 a.m.
i totally agree with u
stevek
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 11 p.m.
If you can't provide for your children, pay your bills, or teach them right from wrong, stop having them. If your life is messed up, bringing a child into this world that you cannot raise or afford does not make your life any easier I am tired of supporting other people.
TNB
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.
Three children under seven years of age; their bedrooms in the basement with no egress windows, no smoke alarms, and dangerous wiring ... a death trap. Innocent victims of drugs - these three young children who are now without parents. What kind of life can they possibly have? Very sad.
TNB
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 4:14 p.m.
I know it happens; my daughter knew Tyne. She and Jacob, who were in the basement of the home in A2, both died of smoke inhalation.
jns131
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 3:42 p.m.
This has happened before. In Ann Arbor. Need to have an escape route to have living quarters down there. As for the children? Hopefully they will get good foster parents that care about them.
Gordon
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 12:24 p.m.
Congrats to Ypsi for finding more then one way to "skin a cat". If you can't catch them in the act & you know the drugs are there condemn the house. Endangerment is endangerment
Rosarium
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 11:22 a.m.
What a shame, 40 years ago that home probably had a married couple with two or three children contributing to a healthy and safe community.
tdw
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.
@jns131....WRONG that IS NOT West Willow.Not even the same school district
jns131
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 3:41 p.m.
This is the West Willow District. They are still working on the crime rate over there, but yes, I agree, every time I see a house fall? I wonder how loved it was when it was first built. The family that moved in and now? Condemned. How sad to see a house go from loved to this.
Justice4all
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 2:45 p.m.
I'd argue that the area is still nice. Largest neighborhood in Ypsilanti by far and a big pocket of slum lords without a doubt, but it is not the entire area.
tdw
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 12:57 p.m.
I hate this computer...when the auto industry went down hill so did that area
tdw
Sat, Mar 31, 2012 : 12:54 p.m.
Rosarium....Less than that closer to 25 or 30.That area used to be nice but when the auto industry n