‘Coming home to nothing.’ Evacuated Durham families report break-ins, school suspensions
Some McDougald Terrace residents coming home after a more-than-month-long evacuation are finding their homes broken into and their belongings stolen, a community leader told the Durham City Council.
Nearly two dozen of the public housing complex’s 360 apartments have been broken into or vandalized, Resident Council President Ashley Canady said Monday night.
“Residents are coming home to nothing, windows busted out,” she said. “My son actually walked in on somebody in my room counting my money.”
Canady said she saw a man walking around the complex Monday selling a resident’s television.
“Enough is enough,” she said. “We have suffered enough.”
Canady said the security firm at the 25-acre complex on Lawson Street should be replaced.
Mayor Steve Schewel said the break-ins are “not acceptable.”
Officials have spoken with Durham Housing Authority Chief Executive Officer Anthony Scott and Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis, he said.
“I am sure that they will be doing a lot of work on it,” Schewel said.
Carl Newman, general counsel for the housing authority, said DHA requested calls for police service at McDougald Terrace over the past two months. The information it received indicated there was one reported burglary and about three calls about broken windows.
Newman said DHA has asked the security company to do more foot patrols and shared residents’ concerns with police.
According to the Durham Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit, there have been three burglaries, five vandalisms and two larcenies in McDougald Terrace reported between Jan. 1 and Saturday.
On a five-minute walk around McDougald Terrace on Tuesday, Canady pointed out more than 10 units that had been boarded up after a break-in or vandalism.
Carbon monoxide evacuation
The housing authority started a voluntary evacuation of McDougald Terrace in early January amid concerns about high carbon monoxide levels, mold and other conditions.
About 280 families were evacuated to more than a dozen hotels across the city. Six families were able to move back to their units on Friday, and more are expected to return this week.
Canady also expressed concern Monday night about 13 students who have been suspended from school “because the schools said they are coming to school venting too much.”
The N&O and The Herald-Sun contacted the Durham Public Schools, which was looking into the concerns Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 10:28 AM.
