Fentanyl and firearms lead Columbus to obtain order to shut down South Side house

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s office alleges this home at 1890 S. 4th St. on the city’s South Side was being used for trafficking fentanyl and other drugs and to stash firearms. The city obtained a judge’s order from a Franklin County Municipal Court judge to shutter the house and eviction of the tenants.

The Columbus City Attorney’s office has obtained a court order to shut down an alleged  drug house in the South Side after concerned residents began working with city police last year.

City prosecutors allege in court documents that occupants of the home at 1890 S. 4th St. in the Reeb-Hosack neighborhood were using the property for fentanyl trafficking and stockpiling of firearms. The house was also being used for promotion of prostitution, prosecutors allege.

The property is located near multiple other residential homes, local businesses and places of worship, and has long been known to area residents as a hub of criminal activity, Klein’s office said in a release. Concerned neighbors began working with Columbus police in 2021 to report the alleged criminal activity.

Judge Stephanie Mingo of Franklin County Municipal Court’s Environmental Division on Monday ordered that the tenants be evicted from the property, and that failure to do so would result in the court finding property owner Karen Mitchell, who also lives in the South Side about 1.5 miles away, in contempt of the order.

Mitchell could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

According to court documents, Columbus police received multiple community complaints regarding the South 4th Street house beginning in July 2021, with concerned neighbors reporting the sale of narcotics and firearms at the home.

In July 2021, Columbus police watched the premises on multiple occasions and witnessed traffic consistent with narcotics sales. They later conducted a controlled purchase of narcotics at the premises.

Police then executed a search warrant at the premises and recovered suspected narcotics, drug paraphernalia, handguns and ammunition.

In August 2021, police reported receiving received a tip that fentanyl and cocaine were being sold at the house and began stakeouts between August 2021 and December 2021 where they reported observing traffic consistent with narcotics sales.  Police conducted an undercover purchase of crack cocaine in December 2021, then later that month executed a search warrant there, seizing drugs, cash, multiple firearms and several high-capacity gun magazines.

Story continues

The Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force also received a tip in November 2021 that the residents were forcing women into sex-for-hire dates, court documents allege.

Since January 2022, Columbus police have responded to multiple calls for service to the premises and complaints from neighbors about continued drug sales, records state.

Klein thanked neighboring residents for their efforts in helping to shut down the house.

“No one should have to put up with a revolving door of criminal activity on their street,” Klein said in a statement. “Thanks to concerned neighbors and the investigative work of (Columbus police), we were able to shut down this dangerous operation, disrupt the flow of drugs into our streets, and make our South Side neighborhoods safer for residents and families alike.”

This story is part of the Dispatch’s Mobile Newsroom initiative. Read our reporters’ work at dispatch.com/mobilenewsroom, where you also can sign up for The Mobile Newsroom newsletter.

Cole Behrens is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety and breaking news. You can reach him at CBehrens@dispatch.com or find him on Twitter at @Colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus shutting down South Side drug house