Meanwhile in Tulsa: Drug house spared demolition & Drug Dealers get a 2nd chance
This crap is getting nuts: running a crack house and get off with a promise not to do it any more.
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Drug house spared demolition & Drug Dealers get a 2nd chance
by: BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
4/11/2008 12:00 AM
The owners agree to conditions that will allow officers to keep an eye on them.
The City Council spared a Tulsa home from demolition Thursday after the owners agreed to stop the drug activity there and submit to warrantless police searches.
Council Chairman John Eagleton said it was worth giving Charlotte Burks and her two adult sons, Kevin and Orville Tharps, another chance.
"I'm convinced in the sincerity of their objective to clean the place up and eliminate the nuisance," Eagleton said. "If that's done, we did good work here today."
Last week, the council declared the house at 1173 N. Main St. a public nuisance be cause of the chronic drug activity recorded by police as far back as 1999 and as recently as December.
As part of the deal with the council, Burks and her two sons must for two years abide by conditions outlined in a letter of understanding.
The conditions include:
Ceasing all drug-related activities on the property.
Allowing police to search the property upon request until May 1, 2009.
Notifying all visitors that the property is a "Drug-Free Zone" and allowing police to be present without any reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or search warrant.
Not allowing any illegal weapons on the property.
Limiting to six the number of people living in, renting or using the residence.
By allowing police searches without warrants, Burks and her sons have waived their constitutional rights.
All three signed the letter of understanding at the council meeting.
In 2003, the city established a drug-house abatement ordinance under the state's Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substance Act.
It allows the city to declare any structure that is used for drug activity a nuisance.
Under municipal law, a structure has to be declared a public nuisance before it can be demolished.
Councilors last week heard from Kevin Tharps, who, in a plea to save his mother's home, admitted that he is the reason for the drug atmosphere at the residence.
He said he is a recovering cocaine addict with a prison record and still has friends who are affiliated with gangs.
Tharps took issue with some of the most recent violations, saying that although drugs were found in the house, they belonged to his friends -- not him, his brother or their mother.
He said most of the activity in the past occurred when his mother was at work or asleep.
Burks also has a drug arrest history, however.