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‘Open-air drug market’: Feds may seize crime-ridden strip mall in west Charlotte

By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com
By Mark Becker, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE — The crime and violence at a small west Charlotte strip mall are a danger to anyone in the area, federal prosecutors said.

Buses and children inside vehicles have been shot at the intersection of West Boulevard and Remount Road.

Federal officials said the situation is so bad that they are trying to seize the property.

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“Few properties in the Charlotte area have had a greater history or volume of drug-related crime and violence than the West Boulevard property,” according to a federal filing. “And we have seen it for ourselves.”

Channel 9 rode along the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit two years ago that focused on the shopping center.

Drugs were a magnet for more serious problems, including homicides, police said.

“Somebody seen something,” said Mariam Hammond, the victim’s cousin. “Somebody needs to start talking now.”

No witnesses have come forward.

Business owners said that they were frustrated too.

“Simply put, the property serves as an open-air drug market,” according to the federal complaint.

There have been 14 shootings at the shopping center in the last four years.

Crime scene at strip mall at intersection of West Boulevard and Remount Road

“Innocent bystanders’ cars, including those with children, have been shot into and even a city bus has been hit,” the complaint states.

In the filing, there are photos of guns and drugs and the damage left behind due to violent crime.

“The drug trade in Charlotte, it’s been here,” said Beth Greene, former federal prosecutor. “It’s not going away any time soon. This is clearly a tool that this office is willing to roll back out.”

Greene said seizing the property can be an effective approach to deal with criminal hot spots.

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The government would become the landlord there so officials can do what they need to do to clean up the area.

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“They literally step into the shoes of the prior owner,” Greene said. “That’s the way that works.”

The seizure doesn’t mean the federal government will shut down businesses at the strip mall. They could keep operating but would have to do so under the federal government

Cox Media Group

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