The Devil is a Bad Neighbor

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

The Hawthorne EcoVillage was once an epicenter of open-air drug dealing, prostitution, and other crimes. The "apartment complex of anarchy" was one of the main buildings that contributed to the sorry state of affairs that once existed here. But perhaps more than any other person, "The Devil" was responsible for much of what transpired. "The Devil" goes by Evanner, Evannor, or Van as a first name, and Haywood or Haymon as a last name. He owned two houses in the EcoVillage, 3020 6th St N and 3024 6th St N.

3024 is where he ran his prostitution/flop house until THAT was foreclosed upon and he had to consolidate his "business" to his drug/pill house at 3020. After that foreclosure, somebody came along and set the house on fire. In the midst of this battle - and it was indeed a battle for the very fate of the neighborhood - our board chair's truck was set on fire as well, in retaliation for our incessant 911 calls on all the illegal activity.

Crime is now virtually non-existent in the EcoVillage, but the Devil didn't go to far. He now resides at 3007 3rd St N. Recently a bright orange placard went up that said...

...the property is condemned because of a lack of utilities. Water, in this case.

This isn't his first problem at 3007 3rd St N either. As far as the neighborhood is aware, he purchased the property in late 2008. We didn't find out about it until several months later, though, because the city of Minneapolis and Hennepin County websites do not allow users to enter the name of property owners as search criteria. (You CAN do this in Douglas County, Wisconsin though)

Even though we didn't see much of any illegal activity there, we did have reason to believe that Evannor, or someone else, was living there before the full code compliance had been met. That belief was confirmed when police found evidence that people were spending the night. A stop work order was issued for unpermitted work and Haywood/Haymon was told he could not live there until full code compliance had been met.

In the meantime, he's racked up all sorts of fees for violations since taking ownership of this property. $8,400 was assessed and paid in 2008 although it's not clear from this site how much was to Evannor and how much was to a previous owner. Most of those fees, however, came from basic upkeep/removal of debris from the property and continuous increased penalties for not paying the small fee the first time around.

In 2009, he was assessed $2,285 in similar fees, and he's already surpassed that amount for 2010 with $2,835 in pending assessments.

Now it appears once again that his house is thankfully uninhabitable. Hawthorne residents are encouraged to call 911 at any sign that someone may be living in unhealthy or unsanitary or otherwise illegal conditions at 3007 3rd St N. That advice comes directly from a friendly 311 operator who said that when the water is shut off and people should not be living in a place, we should call 911.

Lately it seems like there have been quite a few detractors posting comments against just about any type of activity wherein we work to make our neighborhood better. To those people, I reiterate the history of "The Devil" in Hawthorne: this man has been the driving force behind countless drug and prostitution crimes. He is believed to be connected to two instances of arson, both within several hundred feet of each other and one of which was directed at a law-abiding citizen with a wife and children. Whatever differences you all have with this blog, can we at least agree that open-air drug dealing, prostitution, and arson--ARSON!--have no place in our community? If we cannot, then I'm afraid we really don't have a lot to say to each other.

I know that everybody needs a place to call home. For "The Devil," that place should be a jail cell.