Police raid house where 15 people were squatting with nine dogs

Neighbors have complained about the problem home, and city officials have been pursuing legal means to condemn the property at 724 20th Ave., East Moline City Administrator Doug Maxeiner said.

“We first became aware of the condition of the property about nine months ago, in August and September of 2022,” Maxeiner said.

“It’s a bank-owned property that hired a management company to oversee the property,” he added. “So we were trying to get with somebody to get this thing resolved.”

Bank officials told East Moline that nothing could be done about the property until everyone living there was evicted, Maxeiner said.

“It took forever,” he said. “We had an eviction hearing scheduled for May 26. I don’t know what the status of that is at this point.

“Our police department has fielded in excess of 100 calls to the property since January of 2022,” he added. 

The water and sewer had been turned off to the house, he said.

“We’ve been pursuing a search warrant for public health reasons, but today’s search warrant on the criminal activity took care of that,” Maxeiner said.

As of about noon on Wednesday, three truckloads of refuse had been removed from the property, particularly the back yard, and about that much remained Wednesday evening, he said.

“The interior is just as bad as the outside,” he added.

People had been living in the garage as well as inside the home. 

Maxeiner said the city would go after the bank to help pay for some or all of the cleanup.

“East Moline police are glad this property is contained,” he said. “The neighborhood has to be breathing a little easier. We felt very sorry for them, but we had to stay within the bounds of the law and we were finally able to get some progress today.”

Agencies were trying to line up shelters for the other people who were evicted from the property, Maxeiner said. “Most of them were homeless and have other issues.”

The house has been boarded up, and condemned, he added.

“It is probably some of the worst living conditions I’ve ever seen,” Andrew Fratzke, director of the Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, said.

“We’ve been investigating this property for about a year based on citizens’ complaints and information received about the property,” Fratzke said. While agents were seeking drugs and weapons, Fratzke said closing the house down was a win for the neighborhood.

“Whether we got anything out of this or not, we did our job today for this neighborhood,” he said.

Darren Lyle Abney, 53, was arrested for failure to appear in Henry County Circuit Court on a charge of possession of meth less than 5 grams, a Class 3 felony that carries a prison sentence of two to five years. Abney was supposed to have appeared for a preliminary hearing in the case Monday. His bond is set at $20,000, or 10%.

Dean C. Johnson, 31, was arrested for failure to appear on a Henry County charge of aggravated identification theft, a Class 3 felony, and identity theft, a Class 4 felony. His bond is set at $50,000, or 10%. A Class 4 felony in Illinois carries a prison sentence of one to three years.

Leon Hubert Starberg Jr., 43, was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession with the intent to deliver meth. He was being held without bond. He is expected to make a first appearance on the charges Thursday in Rock Island County Circuit Court.

All three men were being held Wednesday night in the Rock Island County Jail.

Assisting at the scene were the East Moline Police Department, Moline-East Moline Crisis Containment Unit, Illinois State Police and city of East Moline Maintenance Services Department.

The case remains under investigation by the East Moline Police Department and the Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group.

Anyone with information is asked to call the East Moline Police Department Investigations Unit at 309-752-1547, Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities at 309-762-9500 or use the Crime Stoppers P3 Tips mobile app.