Police shut down another drug house, this one in the Flats
Law enforcement has shut down another house in Medicine Hat for being the site of drug use and drug-related crimes.
“In Oct. 2016, we started getting complaints of suspected drug activity at this property,” said Insp. Mike Letourneau with the Sheriff's Safer Communities Neighbourhoods unit (SCAN), as workers finished boarding up and fencing off 1170 Bridge St. Thursday.
The Aug. 24 court order means the property — located just down the road from Elm Street School — must be vacated for 90 days. Once the 90 days are up, the house can be occupied again, but activities will be monitored as part of a year-long Community Safety Order.
“We did an analysis of the crime trends in this particular part of the city, and we found that a lot of our crime and our violent activity was directly related to the activities that were going on in 1170 Bridge Street,” said MHPS Sgt. Stacey Kesler. This made a “pretty compelling case” for police to conduct enforcement operations through direct patrols and with the drug enforcement team.
Activities occurring at the property were consistent with drug activity and trafficking, said Kesler. In April 2016, a kidnapping occurred at the adjacent property and the now shutdown residence was tied to it — although no charges were laid against the home’s occupant.
Arrests have also been made at the house for breaches of court orders, warrants have been executed there, while police have been dispatched there for mental health actrelated calls where drugs have been the driving factor.
Traditional tactics weren’t being effective, said Kesler, at which point the MHPS brought SCAN on board.
The property is owned by Darryl Hafso, with his son Robert Hafso residing there.
Prior to going to the courts, police gave the homeowner multiple notifications and warnings about the incidents occurring on the property, and warnings they would be going to court to seek the order. The occupant was also given multiple warnings and notifications.
“In this case the homeowner didn’t do anything,” said Letourneau.
This is the third time a court order of this sort has been issued in Medicine Hat. The first two times was for a notorious drug house on Aberdeen Street, whose owner passed away earlier this year due to a drug overdose.
There are about 35 active drug houses — likely more — in the city, said Insp. Brent Secondiak with the MHPS. “Some of them are rental properties, some of them are owned by the homeowners, so we’re working closely with the sheriff’s office, specifically SCAN to shut these down.”
The neighbours around 1170 Bridge St. were “instrumental” and “active” in working with police to get the property shut down, said Letourneau, stressing that when complaints are made to SCAN, the identity of those making the complaints are 100 per cent protected by police.