FAST FACTS:
( South Memphis 9/21/2009)
Cheryl Marty is a one woman crime fighter.
"Get the Hell out!" She yelled at a car parked next door and speeding away. "I refuse to tolerate it. I don't have to live like this. That would be a hooker," she explained as the car zoomed by.
Marty is fed up and frustrated with the crime in her neighborhood, brought on by blight.
When she moved to Memphis nine months ago from Ohio, the Southside Boys and Girls Club was filled with kids.
Living next to it brought a twinkle to her eyes.
"I was really jazzed it was right across the street I wasn't working and I could volunteer."
Now the building, owned by Memphis City Schools, is a vacant eyesore. Marty says it's also become a crime magnet.
"The last two months it's been out of control. The last two months have been really bad."
Case in point, the broken windows and ripped out frames. Marty says Saturday she and her husband spotted a man stealing them.
"So I take off running," explains Marty. "My daughter comes running with cell phone. My husband, I'm yelling get in the car go around back and we catch him."
But when police arrived, they had to let him go.
Police tell us MCS security called one of their higher-ups, Brian Shipp. And Apparently Shipp told security the school district didn't want to press charges."
An MCS spokeswoman tells us Shipp says he was told vagrants were breaking in looking for shelter. He says he decided not to prosecute because property wasn't destroyed.
But that's not what we found. Though several doors to the building have been welded shut, a back door was unlocked.
Inside a tire iron was still on the ground, possibly the tool of choice to bust through the walls and rip out all the plumbing.
Marty says it's a prime example of her tax dollars going down the drain.
"It's like taking tax dollars opening up the window and throwing it to the wind is what they've done. It's frustrating."
MCS says they plan to weld all the doors shut and board up all the windows.
- Cheryl Marty is fed up with blight and the crime it brings
- Old Boys and Girls Club has become magnet for crime
- Building is owned by Memphis City Schools
( South Memphis 9/21/2009)
Cheryl Marty is a one woman crime fighter.
"Get the Hell out!" She yelled at a car parked next door and speeding away. "I refuse to tolerate it. I don't have to live like this. That would be a hooker," she explained as the car zoomed by.
Marty is fed up and frustrated with the crime in her neighborhood, brought on by blight.
When she moved to Memphis nine months ago from Ohio, the Southside Boys and Girls Club was filled with kids.
Living next to it brought a twinkle to her eyes.
"I was really jazzed it was right across the street I wasn't working and I could volunteer."
Now the building, owned by Memphis City Schools, is a vacant eyesore. Marty says it's also become a crime magnet.
"The last two months it's been out of control. The last two months have been really bad."
Case in point, the broken windows and ripped out frames. Marty says Saturday she and her husband spotted a man stealing them.
"So I take off running," explains Marty. "My daughter comes running with cell phone. My husband, I'm yelling get in the car go around back and we catch him."
But when police arrived, they had to let him go.
Police tell us MCS security called one of their higher-ups, Brian Shipp. And Apparently Shipp told security the school district didn't want to press charges."
An MCS spokeswoman tells us Shipp says he was told vagrants were breaking in looking for shelter. He says he decided not to prosecute because property wasn't destroyed.
But that's not what we found. Though several doors to the building have been welded shut, a back door was unlocked.
Inside a tire iron was still on the ground, possibly the tool of choice to bust through the walls and rip out all the plumbing.
Marty says it's a prime example of her tax dollars going down the drain.
"It's like taking tax dollars opening up the window and throwing it to the wind is what they've done. It's frustrating."
MCS says they plan to weld all the doors shut and board up all the windows.
