Encampment

When a dangerous gang from the infamous Aryan Brotherhood set up camp on a remote and abandoned lot in East Aldine, Sheriff’s Office deputies from the East Aldine Management District’s Response Team targeted the location.

The deputies’ efforts were aided, in no small part, by the gang’s dangerously stupid attempt to pirate electricity from a CenterPoint transmission line — with a hook-up that included jumper cables. 

The ill-fated connection caused the gang’s dilapidated trailer home to catch fire and burn to the ground.

“They’re lucky nobody got killed,” said Senior Dep. Ray Radney.

Senior Dep. Jose Peña, added: “I didn’t even know you could do that without killing yourself.”

The incident is just one of the many efforts by the District Response Team, a special group of deputies who are out to rid East Aldine of unsightly, hazardous and illegal operations in the 20-square mile unincorporated area of north Harris County.

From illegal game rooms to lots overgrown with weeds or filled with abandoned vehicles, dumped tires, mattresses and furniture, the deputies are tasked with cleaning up East Aldine to improve residents’ safety and security.

In some cases, their job involves helping elderly residents get access to social services or housing assistance. In others, they filed charges for illegal dumping against two scofflaws from Houston who were caught on security cameras unloading their trash in Keith-Wiess Park.

Recently, the deputies began keeping an eye on several houses damaged by 2017’s Hurricane Harvey to make sure the houses slated for demolition in the county’s buy-out program are clear and safe before being torn down. They recently had to evict homeless people who had taken up residence in a house that had partially burned down.

“I really do like to think that we put people before properties,” Radney said. “A lot of this area was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. And a lot of people are literally still trying to resolve issues and get back on their feet. We do try to be understanding, we just don’t want to come out like ‘We’re the big bad police, so you better do this or that.’ ”

“Sometimes we find an older person who just needs a little help,” Radney said.

That was not the case with the Aryan Brotherhood gang, who had threatened the property owner with machetes and automatic weapons. 

Their disastrous fire (and a methamphetamine lab) allowed the deputies to file criminal charges and eviction orders. Although it took nearly a year, Harris County cleared the land by placing a lien on the property. It has since been sold to the Harris County Flood Control District.

Similar encampments, marked by campers and trailers, occasionally end up on vacant properties, like one spot where a New York property owner was unaware of the squatters. Although the nuisance abatement team issued eviction orders, a woman claimed that she had the right to live on the land “because she was Native American,” Radney said.

Radney

Peña scoffed, adding: “She really was Native American – from South Dakota. Fortunately, there was an outstanding warrant for her arrest.”

For reasons neither deputy can explain, such camps attract people who collect massive amounts of junk cars, machinery, and tons of used tires.

“They just drag all of this crap on there, like they think they’re going to be able to use it again and then it just piles up,” Radney said.

“I really have no idea what they’re thinking, with all the (stuff) they collect.”

But, he added, there is a sense of satisfaction in getting such properties cleaned up.

“There’s not a lot of law enforcement work that you can actually see. It’s not a product, or a result, at the end of the day. Even if it takes a year sometimes, you get satisfaction from it,” Radney said. “It’s the same kind of good feeling I get from mowing my yard.”

The DRT also is responsible for cracking down on illegal activities at certain businesses such as sexually oriented clubs, chop shops and illegal game rooms. Nuisance abatement is about far more than just cleaning up the East Aldine area, Radney said.

Peña

“What we’re trying to do is get at the root of the problem,” he explained. “Instead of just making a single arrest, we’re getting at the owners of a property for allowing criminal activities to continue. They bear a lot of the responsibility for crime.”

“We work with the County Attorney’s Office, and when they file suit, they like to say they ‘sue the dirt.’ I guess that gets their (the owners’) attention. Because money talks, when you’re going to lose your business unless you clean it up.”

And, keeping the area clean and attractive deters crime, Radney said.

“Rundown properties can attract crime. It affects the quality of life. People have to live around it,” Radney said.

 —by Anne Marie Kilday