Columbus announces shuttering of East Side property with history of drugs and violence

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A property on the East Side with a history of drug activity and violent crime is being boarded up. 

The city attorney's office secured a court order to shutter 764 Brookside Drive, a property at the center of 20 police calls over the past year for assaults, drug activity, overdoses and litter, according to City Attorney Zach Klein.

Columbus police executed the order this week, Klein said, boarding up the property. Assistant City Attorney Sophia Yano said the city will continue to monitor the property and take further action if problems persist. 

“Our friends and neighbors on the east side should not have to put up with this level of crime and drug activity, and I applaud the Court for siding with the City and shutting this property down,” Klein said in a news release. 

Klein cited a history of issues at the property, starting in July 2023. Officers discovered an individual who died of a drug overdose. The individual reportedly often came to the house to buy and use drugs.

In August and September 2023, Columbus officers responded to several complaints from neighbors reporting drug activity, individuals occupying the house without any electricity or running water, and the yard littered with waste.

Officers responded to a reported assault and robbery in the vicinity of the property in October 2023, with the victim telling officers the assailant was leaving the premises when he grabbed him from behind and struck him several times in the face and abdomen.

Problems persisted in February, when officers responded to multiple calls about the Brookside Drive home, including for an unresponsive person and arson. 

The premises had been placarded by city code enforcement, but on multiple occasions in recent months, individuals had trespassed onto the property and were found inside the home, according to court documents.