West Side Residents Demand Action on Crime-Ridden House

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Kate Nagle, GoLocal News Editor

Residents on the West Side of Providence, including the West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA), are calling for the city to act on house that has been a repeated scene of violent crime, including an episode this week. 

On October 5, the WBNA met with city officials to discuss the property at 17 Hudson Street, which on Wednesday was the target of a drive-by shooting that has neighbors even more concerned and frustrated, after a triple shooting had occurred at the location in 2013, and reports of shots fired at the property took place as recently as this August. 

“My general frustration is why can't something get done? I think that the WBNA and neighbors have done everything we can do,” said neighbor James Ruh.  “Why can't the city step up and take appropriate action to keep us safe? They want to put nuisance stickers up — so what, they can shoot a hole through them? The police are doing all that they can, but the neighborhood is frustrated — I’m not sure if there's political will.”

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Former City Council President and Acting Mayor John Lombardi, who is currently a State Representative, attended the last WBNA meeting, and said the city "needs to do something."

“Look, it’s not my district, but I know it well. This has been going on for 20 years," said Lombardi. "The city needs to take action, and seize the property.  There needs to be some intestinal fortitude here."

Neighborhood Concerns

At the Octobr 5 WBNA meeting, Councilman Bryan Principe, District 4 Police Commander Lt. Fernandes and Assistant City Solicitor Noah Kilroy and members of the the Nuisance Task Force (NTF) said that they met with the homeowner of 17 Hudson Street, and that the owner was put on notice that the house would be stickered, and any subsequent nuisance activity would necessitate a $500 fine each time the police are called to the property.      

According to city tax records, the property owners are Vanna Em and Peth Chhouer, who reside in Malden, Massachusetts.  The phone number for the Malden address is unlisted.

WBNA Executive Director Kari Lange spoke to the difficulty of addressing the situation, which she says had been going on for years. 

“This has been a twenty year problem, and it’s not an easy problem,” said Lange.  "When I first came on with WBNA in the mid-1990s, a neighbor across the street [from 17 Hudson Street]  had a new baby, there'd been a shooting, and they left.  Then the house quiets down for a while, and then something happens. We've had great police response -- it's not like it's been ignored, this is a disturbing pattern and not an easy thing to solve.  Everyone wants to be safe, and deserves to be safe.  And we don’t feel safe.”

Ruh spoke to neighborhood crime reports, including a shooting in August and a report from a concerned neighbor — two and a half years ago, on August 14, 2013.  

"My husband, myself and my kids have lived on this area of Hudson St near the park for almost 13 years now. There is a history of gang related violence ,including 2 other shootings, directed at this same house, 17 Hudson St. There has also been very loud music coming from the house as late as 3AM. We met repeatedly at WBNA with police, city council, AG representative and finally with someone from the gang task-force at the time.”

City Response

The Mayor's office provided the following statement from Assistant City Solicitor Noah Kilroy, Staff Attorney for the Nuisance Task Force:

The Nuisance Task Force is assisting in this matter and we had productive conversations WBNA leadership following this latest incident.

This property currently has an ‘orange sticker’ designation and Solicitor’s Office is working closely with Lt. Fernandes from the Providence Police Department to identify strategies to address these concerns.  

I look forward to representing the Solicitor’s Office at the WBNA meeting on Tuesday to provide information and assistance as appropriate.   

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