(La Porte, IN) - Residents of a home are now gone after being forced to leave because of years of constant drug activity and other misbehavior. The city locked up the house in La Porte on Saturday after everyone vacated the residence at 332 Clear Lake Boulevard.

 

An arrest was made during an argument between family members while the home was being vacated late in the afternoon.

 

La Porte Code Enforcement Director Jeff Batchelor said residents were given a 10-day notice to vacate the premises under a condemnation order driven by years of misconduct at the residence.

 

The deadline was extended for about a week to allow the homeowner time for a daughter to come from outside the state to help with the move.

 

“She asked if we could give her a couple of more days until her daughter got here to help her move stuff, and they would take it and be gone, and I honored that,” Batchelor said.

Batchelor said the undesirable activity, often leading to responses by police,  continued despite repeated warnings from the city for it to stop. The residents were forced out under the city's nuisance ordinance, which can be imposed even on property owners.

 

Batchelor said the homeowner, Charlotte Mullins, still owns the property and can sell it, but she and her family can no longer reside at that location under the ordinance.

 

Problem activity at Mullins' residence included a hatchet attack and other acts of violence.

 

“This has been going on for 15 years, and we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior in our community,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody.

Batchelor said Mullins was not the source of the misbehavior but enabled her children and their acquaintances to engage in such conduct.