PERRY, Ga. — Houston County District Attorney William Kendall says a home in Perry had so many 911 calls to it that his office took the owners to court.
Last Friday, a judge kicked the owners out of the home at 103 Todd Road after seeing the evidence against it.
Kendall says it's the first time they've done something like this with a house. Sometimes, a city or county will step in and sue a business or apartment complex over crime or other problems.
Kendall says this is the same process, but he didn't take it lightly because people were living there.
"That was a total nightmare each and every day," Conswalla Billings said of the house next door.
She's lived next door since 2011. Billings says it's been trashed for about seven years.
"They were doing a lot of driving through my front yard. There's a lot of days that stick out. And there were a lot of fights that goes on," she said.
There was also drug activity, she said. Billings made her share of 911 calls.
"Since about October of 2017, it looked like there had been about 255 calls to service to that location," Kendall said. "Previous drug investigations that were pretty intense in nature."
Many of those calls were drug-related. Kendall says the number of calls, trash piled up in the front and back yards, and the house's history added up to a public nuisance.
Kendall's office took that evidence before Judge Edward Lukemire, who ordered the owners to leave by 5 p.m. Friday, March 1. Kendall says many neighbors fully supported it.
"We actually had a large number of people who were neighbors and lived in that neighborhood show up to court during the hearing. We didn't know they were going to be there," he said.
Billings wanted to go, but it didn't work out. She's already noticed a difference since the owners left.
"No problems!" she said. "No problems, thank God!"
Kendall says the house will likely go up for sale. If there's no luck there, the county will likely step in to clean up the mess at the owners' expense. He says this is the first home in a series of houses they're looking into. The others are also known drug spots, Kendall said.
Kendall's office chose this house to start because there were so many problems and documented calls.