The property that was the subject of hundreds of 911 calls was demolished shortly after a press conference Friday.
A perennial troublespot near Chadbourn is history.
Sheriff Jody Greene said in a press conference this morning (Friday) that the owners of 545 Dessie Road have come to an agreement with the court system. The property was the subject of a nuisance abatement order in February after “hundreds” of 911 calls and at least three homicides since 2019, Greene said.
The house was “not your typical family home,” Greene said.
“When the citizens thought of this location,” Greene said, “they thought of the family members who had lost lives there.”
Greene was at the controls of an excavator that took down the property this afternoon, immediately following the press conference.
Maria Bridges, Sean Frazier, and Keyandra Frasier were the owners of the home, Greene said. As a result of the nuisance abatement action, they agreed not to fight the seizure and demolition of the property. The land will be cleared and turned over to the Columbus County Board of Education for potential sale.
The Dessie Road home has been at the center of trouble for several years. Located on the edge of the Chadbourn town limits, the property became synonymous with criminal activity. One officer said that despite criminal activity at other locations on the road, “If you say Dessie Road people know where you’re talking about.”
Among the more notable killings on the property was a shooting at a large party that took the life of a woman, Emily Ivey of Cerro Gordo. That party was being held to beat the deadline of the pandemic ban on large gatherings. Jerald Devon Dennis was wounded in that incident, and was arrested in a wooded area behind the home and charged with murder.
Isaac Gene Miller was arrested after allegedly shooting William Nance inside the home in 2019.
A shootout in September of 2021 injured two and killed one person. Tyquise “Bo Bo” Baker of Chadbourn was arrested for killing Julian Miller in that case. Another man was killed inside the home.
Illegal drug sales and stolen property were common at the home, Greene said. Seven people – including the owners of record – were arrested there after an undercover investigation in October 2021. One of those suspects struck a deputy’s patrol vehicle fleeing the scene.
multiple calls about shots being fired from and at vehicles have been reported from the area around the residence for several years.
Chief Deputy Aaron Herring said that the call volume and resources used on calls related to the address “shows more than $100,000 in taxpayers’ money” has been expended on the location over the course of several years. Those numbers include medical calls due to overdoses and injuries, as well as law enforcement calls.
Mayor Phillip Britt thanked Green, the sheriff’s Office and Alcohol Law Enforcement division for shutting down the property. Crime on Dessie Road frequently bled over the town limits, or involved residents as either victims or suspects. Criminals knew the town police were limited by how far they could go outside of the town, and were also aware of the limited resources available in the county to respond to calls about criminal activity. Britt said he hopes the abatement marks a change for the area.
“This has been a problem for many years for the town of Chadbourn,” Britt said. “On behalf of the people of Chadbourn, I can’t thank you enough for what all the agencies involved have done.”
The abatement order was unusual in that it targeted a private home, not an illegal nightclub of business, District Attorney Jon David said.
“This is the third such case going on right now,” he explained, noting that a troubled property across from Central Middle School in Whiteville will soon be burned as a fire department training class, and Sandy Ridge Apartment complex is under strict rules about security, visitation and other problems.
“Usually when you think of a nuisance abatement order, you think of a business,” David said. “You think of someplace like the Hideaway club (in Bolton) and Triple K Ranch (in Delco). This is different in that it was a residence, but the owners of the residence had invited and allowed criminal activity on their property.”
Greene said the home had multiple code violations, including “wiring everywhere” and open puddles of sewage.
“There was no way you could live there,” Greene said.
“There were incidents of children, small children, being left in their parents’ cars while the adults were buying or using drugs at 545 Dessie Road,” Greene said.
The property will be demolished within the next seven to ten days if all goes according to plan, Greene said. The sheriff’s office plans to use some of the heavy equipment obtained for free from the military for the demolition.
“We owe a lot of thanks to the citizens of this county who provided us with information through tips and calls,” Greene said. “This isn’t the last place like this that we are targeting. There will be more.”
