City Attorney's Office Sues 90-Year-Old Homeowner Over Drugs

LOS ANGELES, CA – A lawsuit was filed by the City Attorney's Office Tuesday against the 90-year-old owner of a South Los Angeles home and her son, alleging that the residence has been a "seat of lawlessness" involving drug transactions and violent crimes for two decades. The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint seeks an injunction and abatement of an alleged nuisance against Inest A. Thacker and her 58-year-old son, Darryl E. Halcromb.

Thacker has been the subject of several criminal investigations, arrests and prosecutions, "which presumably begets a level of familiarity with the narcotics activity at the property," the suit states. "(Thacker) is either unable or unwilling to abate the nuisance activity occurring at the property."

Halcromb lives at the home and has been arrested and convicted for weapons and drug offenses committed there, according to the suit, which alleges that he "allows a rotating cast of narcotics users, relatives and acquaintances, some with close affiliations to criminal street gangs, to stay at the property."

Neither Thacker nor Halcromb could be immediately reached for comment.

"For the past two decades, the property has been the seat of lawlessness and disorder," according to the suit, which describes the 118th Street home as "a busy and lucrative crack house, where the sale of cocaine, marijuana, PCP and other controlled substances takes place on a regular basis."

Drug users and buyers arrive by foot, bicycles and cars to buy drugs, according to the complaint, which alleges that at any given time, the home is occupied by dozens of people who contribute to the narcotics environment "with utter disregard for the safety" of the people in the surrounding area.

The LAPD has served search warrants and made numerous arrests for crimes including murder, drug activities and shots fired, the suit states. About 23 firearms have been seized or used in crimes at the home, including revolvers, a pump-action shotgun and rifles, according to the city attorney.

The residence appears from the street to blend in with other well-kept homes. But upon closer inspection, he doors to the home and the converted garage have been fortified with security gates to protect drug dealers inside, and surveillance cameras are used to further aid the alleged illicit activity inside, the suit alleges.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock