LYNN — When Clint Muche and a city inspector toured the single-family home at 7 Fuller St. last month, they found jugs of human waste, mounds of trash, drug paraphernalia, piles of unwashed clothes, and no running water.
“When we visited the house, we wore gloves, shoe protectors and a mask over our mouths,” said Muche, the city’s deputy building commissioner.
Inspectors secured and boarded up the home to prevent access. Weeks later, it appeared people gained entry with a ladder through a second floor window. The department then had the second story windows boarded up as well.
City Councilor Jay Walsh said neighbors have complained for two years that the house was being used as a place to buy drugs.
“They noticed the clientele going in and out of there at all hours,” he said.
The neighbors may have been onto something.
Last month, Lynn Police, with assistance of State Police and the North Shore Gang Task Force, raided the home. Three men and a woman were arrested after police seized more than $10,000 in cash, and large amounts of heroin and crack cocaine. They also found a stash of Clonazepam, a prescription drug designed to treat seizures that has become a pill of choice for addicts and has earned the distinction of being second only to opioid painkiller OxyContin as the nation’s most widely abused class of drug.
Following the arrests of Ivan Sarita, 33, Jacie Carpenter, 26, Kenneth Mealey, 29, all of Lynn, and Robert Ventullo, 30, of Haverhill, the city’s Inspectional Services Department visited the two-bedroom house and condemned the dwelling. The deplorable conditions extended into the back yard, where the residents have been disposing of feces and urine, the department found.
The home was purchased by Kenneth F. Mealey in 2010 for $110,000. While the utilities appear to be shut off, the real estate taxes continue to be paid, according to the Treasurer’s Office.
Mealey did not return calls seeking comment.
Muche said inspectors issued previous notices to the owner to correct the problems that have been ignored.
Walsh is seeking City Council approval to demolish house.
If the city razes the 1,811-square-foot dwelling, Mealey would be billed for the job. If it goes unpaid, the city the would place a lien on the 107-year-old house.
“We know taking down the building is a last resort and we are hoping to get the attention of the owner to fix it up,” he said. “But it can’t stay that way. It’s a public health hazard.”
