State effort boards up troubled property near Selbyville

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A house near Selbyville that had been the site of multiple drug crimes and police calls since 2014 was boarded up as a result of work by the Department of Justice and Delaware State Police to deem it a criminal nuisance property.

The property at 37920 Washington Avenue in Selbyville was known in the area as a location for drug purchases and had been the subject of police calls, searches and arrests, including an undercover drug buy and seizure of heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, suboxone strips, cash and guns, over a three-year period.

Delaware  Department of Justice attorney Oliver Cleary filed a request with Superior Court in April that the property is declared a criminal nuisance. In June,  a Superior Court judge granted the request and ordered the three tenants to be evicted.

On July 31, DSP troopers and the DOJ Crime Strategies Unit served the final notice on the property, which was boarded up.

As part of the court order, the property owner is to ensure no illicit activity occurs on the property and is prohibited from renting the property to anyone with a felony drug dealing conviction.

The state’s criminal nuisance abatement act has been used over the last several years to address residential and businesses properties that have been found to be the location of ongoing criminal activity.