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Old March 3rd, 2007 #1
Chain
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Default Baboons Throw 4 Month Party-Defecate & Bang In Streets After They Win $2.6Mil Lottery



http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...l=7&thispage=1

Quote:
Portland sues '05 lottery winners

Nuisance - Elizabeth and Samuel Howard, who won $2.6 million, are accused of hosting an unruly four-month party

Saturday, February 17, 2007

When Elizabeth and Samuel Howard won $2.6 million from the Oregon Lottery in 2005, they said they felt blessed and talked of helping young people with addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Now, less than 18 months later, they are accused of hosting a lawless four-month party at their house on Northeast Emerson Court featuring drug deals, sex out in the open, violent brawls and public defecation.

The city of Portland has filed suit against the Howards and two of their children under a little-used chronic nuisance law aimed at ridding neighborhoods of crime-infested properties.

The suit provides details of anything-goes parties featuring fights that spilled into other yards, couples having sex in plain view, an assault on a neighbor, slashed tires and loud music.

But 54-year-old Samuel Howard said Friday that the accusations, to his knowledge, are untrue.

"I just feel like I'm a victim in the whole situation," he said.

Samuel, Elizabeth and two sons named in the suit all have a criminal history.

Samuel; Elizabeth, 47; and Samuel Jr., 24, have been convicted of drug offenses. Westley, 20, has been convicted of robbery.

The city wants to board the house up for six to 12 months, according to Roland H. Iparraguirre, a deputy city attorney. But Howard said his house is on the market, which could aid in settling the suit.

If the Howards sell the house, and the criminal activity stops, so would the litigation, Iparraguirre said.

But if they sell it to someone they know, like a relative, and the parties continue, so will the suit.

"A bona fide sale -- that would cure the problem," Iparraguirre said.

The Howards bought the 17-year-old two-story house at the end of the tidy, middle-class cul-de-sac on Emerson Court in July for $285,000, according to city records. That, the suit says, is when the problems started.

Between Jan. 1 and July 12, 2006, police were called only once, the suit says. But between July 29, after the Howards moved in, and Nov. 24, police were called to the street 52 times.

Officers have received a long and varied list of complaints, including domestic violence, prostitution, traffic at all hours and unsupervised children as young at 2 roaming the streets.

The suit also says that children are often used as lookouts, that there are frequent, brief visits and multiple locks on the door, all indications of drug dealing.

The picture of the family portrayed in the lawsuit is a far cry from the humble and deeply spiritual couple who accepted a lump-sum payment of $871,000 from the Oregon lottery in October 2005.

Elizabeth and Samuel both spoke of their faith. When she was overcome with emotion and sobbed on Samuel's shoulder, he comforted her gently and told her everything would be OK.

Under the public nuisance statute, the city takes a case to a judge and generally asks to have the property boarded up for between six and 12 months, Iparraguirre said. The property would remain in the possession of the owners, but they wouldn't have access to it, he added. Such cases face the same legal standard that applies in private lawsuits: a preponderance of the evidence.

Iparraguirre declined to comment on the specifics of the suit against the Howards, other than to say that neighbors on the street made a strong case to police. Neighbors, however, declined to comment Friday afternoon on the Howards.

Iparraguirre said the city hasn't used the public nuisance ordinance often because resources needed to pursue such suits are limited.

"Obviously, the police have a stack of many homes they'd like to go through the process," he said. "The reality is the resources dictate what we can do."

Last edited by Chain; March 3rd, 2007 at 08:00 AM.