Leppert and Caraway go all “Butch and Sundance” on possible Oak Cliff drug house

by Michael Davis of Dallas Progress

OAK CLIFF — On Friday, there was a press conference that signaled the last straw for a Dallas homeowner that knowingly operated a drug house in South Oak Cliff. The house is in the 2600 Block of South Ewing. He was sued a couple of months ago by the city, which is the legal process that is great at stopping these types of places.

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert was there, along with Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and other city officials.

Thank you to Jennifer Richie, Janet Spugnardi, Tom Perkins, and the others in the Dallas City Attorneys office. Thanks to Deputy Chief Sherryl Scott and Chief Kunkle for staying on top of the situation.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are like Butch and Sundance. I'll explain why. Before the press conference, Dwaine got a call that there was a house where an old man was selling candy but also said to be selling beer and possibly drugs. It was in South Oak Cliff, so after the cameras left Dwaine talks to the Mayor and along with some of his staff follows us in a car to the other house. Thankfully, someone told Chief Scott so several police cars followed as well.

Before I can get my seat belt off and the DPD could park, Dwaine and the Mayor hopped out of their cars and go up to the house and start banging on the door and the burglar bars. Fortunately, the homeowner was a slow mover and no danger lurked on the other side. A broken toilet, beer cans, and various debris littered the yard. Interestingly enough, the "nephew" walks down the block to see what's going on with his "uncle" and the DPD were there to intervene. This "nephew" had a bunch of pit bulls in his backyard and some issues which will be looked into.

We got to talk to some of the neighbors, which were glad that we showed up to address this street. When we said that we would work 'one block at a time,' this is what we meant.

When you tour with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, know that they never wait for backup. This isn't the first time this has happened. We're laughing now but I wasn't on Friday, believe me.

There's a lot that the cameras don't see. So when you listen to people that never had the guts to step out on a drug house or anything significant but want to hate on what we do, know that we're in the streets. The Mayor is in the streets too. A lot of people that blog and hate on us do it from the comfort of their comfy homes while we're on the block.

We are reinforced by the people of our district and city that have our backs, not a small band of losers hanging on to their last grips on power and influence.

It's been like that since day one. Check out some of the pics from the press conference.

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