9 arrested at rundown house near elementary school on meth, other charges

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A routine traffic stop near a rundown house led to a mass arrest in Cherokee County, officials said.

Deputies said they arrested nine people in the house on a variety of charges, including keeping a disorderly house and drug possession.

Channel 2's Tom Regan learned neighbors have been complaining about the house that has a Jacuzzi tub in the front yard for a long time.

"There were a lot of people going in and out," a neighbor who did not want to be identified told Regan.

She said she wasn't surprised by the sweeping arrest Monday.

"Drugs on several people who were inside the home. Everyone there either had drugs on them or were charged with keeping a disorderly house," Sgt. Jay Baker said.

Deputies initially trailed someone to the house to ticket them for running a stop sign. The homeowner agreed to allow them into what seemed like a "drug flop house."

The neighbor Regan spoke with said people leaving the house sometimes looked like zombies.

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"We've seen people out here so high from drugs, laying in the yard over here, walking up and down the road, not knowing if they were going to get killed," she said. "It just shouldn't being going on."

Five of the nine arrested where charged with possessing meth, pot or both, officials said.

"It's not far from Oak Grove Elementary School and we want this to be a safe area and a safe neighborhood," Baker said. "We have made multiple, up to 16 arrests at that particular location and it's just a problem."

Homeowner Leonard Bates, though not charged with drug possession, is one of the nine people deputies arrested. The county also slapped him with code violations, according to officials.

"You didn't want these people with drugs in your house?" Regan asked Bates.

"No, no, I didn't want them here," Bates replied.

Bates blamed his sister for inviting strangers into his home in January; he said they would not leave.

"There were people in the basement. They didn't even know them," Baker said.

"Are you going to do improvements to your house?" Regan asked Bates.

"Yeah," Bates responded.

The Sheriff's Office said deputies will be keeping a close watch on the place to make sure the homeowner becomes a better neighbor.

Cox Media Group