ARANSAS COUNTY (Kiii News) -
For the first time since he took office, Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills wants to seize some property that he says has become a serious nuisance.
Mills said his deputies haven't been anywhere in the county as much as they have been to a house on 508 South Doughty Street. The house is notorious for drug activity, and his deputies are constantly having to go there. He said enough is enough, and he wants to seize the property and destroy it.
According to the sheriff, the house is mainly a crack house, but they have also found heroin, marijuana, prescription drugs and lots of cash at the house. His office has seized way too much dope and way too much money from the place.
Mills has submitted an affidavit to District Attorney Patrick Flanigan to seize the house. The affidavit lists nine times dating back to 2001 in which the Sheriff's Office has executed search warrants at the home. There have been two more search warrants executed since that affidavit was submitted.
Mills said it is an unpredictable environment, and his officers never know what they're going to run into at the home.
"Last time we ran a search warrant, we loaded up a cattle trailer and dropped off about 15 officers. It's a good thing we did, because when we pulled up, everybody started deploying out of the back," Mills said. "We detained 13 people that afternoon, ran warrant checks on them, made arrests. Narcotics were thrown over the fence and in the backyard."
And it is not just the drug activity at the home, but also the coming and going from the home. Mills said there have been 15 or 20 cases where they have stopped traffic from the home, and that Rockport police and the Tri County Task Force have also been there time after time.
In their two most recent visits to the home, deputies have had to shoot pit bulls, killing one of them. Mills said he's not going to take the risk of one of his deputies getting attacked or mauled.
Flanigan said he agrees with the sheriff that the house is a problem, and they're looking at pursuing different options, but beyond that, he couldn't comment on a matter that is in litigation.
