EATON — According to a press release issued last week by Preble County prosecuting attorney Martin Votel, the Preble County Common Pleas Court last week granted a Temporary Restraining Order ordering the residence at 610 Aukerman Street in Eaton, be boarded up as a drug nuisance property pending further hearing in the court.
On Tuesday, July 3, the court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) “commanding the residence located at 610 Aukerman Street be pad-locked and secured until further notice by the court.”
The State of Ohio alleged in a court filing “the residence constitutes a public nuisance as a result of consistent and long-standing felony drug activity at the home.”
The residence at 610 Aukerman has been the site of many felony drug abuse complaints and arrests over the past 18 months, including drug trafficking, drug possession, and drug abuse instrument offenses.
Within the past two weeks, according to law enforcement officials, the Eaton Police Division executed a search warrant at the property, resulting in nine drug-related arrests and the confiscation of drugs, syringes, and miscellaneous paraphernalia.
“Shortly after these suspects bonded out of jail, neighbors reported the immediate resumption of drug trafficking activity,” Votel explained.
In response, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney filed for a preliminary and permanent injunction per Ohio Revised Code, seeking a court order to evict the residents and to secure the property.
The TRO will secure the home pending further hearing on the complaint, scheduled for July 13, at 1 p.m., according to Votel.
”This complaint for permanent injunction is a powerful civil tool which can be used to abate the nuisance of ‘drug houses’ in our community,” Votel said. “Any citizen of Preble County who believes they live near an area of persistent drug-trafficking activity is encouraged to report the problem to local law enforcement. With this complaint on 610 Aukerman, persons who permit their property to be used for illegal drug activity (whether or not they are aware of or participate in the activity themselves) are on notice: they risk losing immediate possession of their property in the interests of public safety.”
