Years of frustration and fear may finally be at an end for Rotary Street residents after RCMP raided a problem property Wednesday afternoon.
Around 1:30 p.m. officers stormed into the house at 9562 Rotary Street, located just a stone's throw from Chilliwack secondary school.
Over the next two hours they escorted several people outside. A handful were loaded into squad cars and taken into custody. Others were allowed to leave, but not without giving the middle finger to police and assembled media first.
Ten were arrested with six of them released at the scene. The remaining four were set free Thursday morning, with charges pending.
Officers remained in the house well into Wednesday evening, collecting evidence, while neighbors peeked out their windows and huddled on front lawns.
RCMP said they collected a small quantity of drugs believed to be methamphetamine and MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy or molly) as well as needles, pipes packaging, weigh scales, weapons, and other property were seized.
“We thoroughly investigated all reports of illegal activity in the Rotary Street area which resulted in the execution of this search warrant.” said RCMP Cpl. Mike Rail.”We encourage the public to continue to report all suspicious incidents to ensure they can be promptly investigated."
This house and its tenants/visitors have been a nightmare for Rotary Street's residents, and four homes within 50 yards of it are for sale.
Debbie Walker, who lives across the street and three doors up, has been the most vocal neighbor.
Many of the same people RCMP took out of this house once lived right next to her, until a hash-oil fire burned them out and forced them to relocate. Walker's spent countless hours defending her neighborhood, boldly confronting unwanted visitors.
“There are 11 kids on this street who need to be protected,” she said.
She installed security cameras and pointed them at the house, counting 160 people coming and going in just one day.
She's been known to storm out of her house at two in the morning, yelling and screaming.
She was near her wits end, thinking the RCMP and the city were powerless to do anything about it, when the police finally rolled in.
“To see all the undercover officers and uniformed police over there, I can't even tell you how fabulous I feel,” she said with a big grin. “I've been upset and frustrated and off my nut. But now, we're going to get our neighborhood back.”
Two years ago, on the night of the hash-oil fire, Walker held a neighborhood barbecue, believing the bad people were gone.
Clearly they weren't, so forgive her if she has a tough time convincing herself that this may finally be over.
But standing across the street as another person was led away in handcuffs, she allowed for the possibility.
“The RCMP have been very supportive over the last couple weeks and I'm actually feeling very confident. I'm going to sleep tonight like I haven't slept in months,” she said. “I think I will hold another barbecue pretty darn soon. I'll have to go shopping to get some of those big ol' honkin' steaks!”