Police raiding a suspected drug house on Harwood Street in Elyria were surprised by who they arrested and what they found. Now residents on Harwood Street are relieved the people responsible are facing consequences.
“I hated them living here, I watched it go down, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled,” said neighbor Stefani Halves.
“I just thank God that they’re gone, they didn’t even try to hide what they were doing, they were blatant about it,” added Dale Halves.
Elyria police said the three women inside the house weren’t selling drugs, instead they were buying them around the clock to supply their addiction.
Neighbors believe the women would do whatever it took to get drugs.
“One complaint was somebody was performing a sex act on somebody in a car, that’s unacceptable,” Captain Chris Costantino told News 5.
Police arrested 50-year-old Renee Hildebrandt and her daughter, 23-year-old Janel Hildebrandt last week in connection with the illegal activity. A third woman was also arrested.
The mom told police that she’s addicted to crack cocaine and that her daughter and her friend are addicted to heroin.
Police got dozens of complaints from neighbors fed up with the drug activity and what they saw in the yard.
Elyria police say they found needles scattered around the outside of the home.
Costantino said police couldn’t respond to neighbor's complaints any sooner because they’re overwhelmed dealing with drug investigations.
They have four detectives assigned to drug investigations in a city of 55,000 people.
“I could probably have 30 narcotics detectives and still keep them very busy,” Costantino said.
Costantino added that the house had no running water, so the three women shared a bucket to go to the bathroom.
The city deemed the house uninhabitable and boarded it up.
In the past few days, there have been 12 overdoses in Elyria and two deaths.
