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Brentwood Condemns Dara Daugherty’s Home as Illegal Rooming House | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2024

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click to enlarge RYAN KRULL Dara Daugherty lived in, and also allegedly operated an illegal rooming house out of, this house in Brentwood.

Two weeks after St. Louis sued Dara Daugherty and her associates for allegedly running a 39-property illegal rooming house operation throughout south city, Brentwood shut down an illegal rooming house Daugherty was running there. This house was also apparently Daugherty’s personal residence.

For years, neighbors say, Daugherty’s house stuck out like a sore thumb on the quiet, otherwise picturesque Rosalie Avenue, between Brentwood Boulevard and South Hanley Road. Lawn mowers, old mattresses, tires and bicycles cluttered the backyard. A revolving group of people came and went from the property.

Then, last Wednesday, neighbors say that several police cars, including a canine officer, showed up outside the house along with a dump truck. Several other municipal workers began clearing the backyard of its debris.

One resident of Rosalie, who asked to remain anonymous, told the RFT they weren’t surprised by the need to haul away so much junk and debris.

“She’s a hoarder,” they said.

That same day, the city of Brentwood served five summons at the address, citing it for, among other things, junk, debris and an outdoor pool that had no permit. According to the summons, Daugherty was also using the Brentwood home as a rooming house in an area zoned for single family occupancy.

The house where Daugherty has herself been living appears to have been in as rough shape as many of the properties she rented out to the city’s most vulnerable. The inside of the house was cited for numerous violations, including junk, trash and debris causing a fire hazard, no smoke detectors, and a bug infestation.

Reached by cell phone last week, Daugherty told an RFT reporter that she was visiting her dying father at a Clayton hospital. She declined to comment on her legal troubles, though she did claim she had matters in hand.

“I’m not worried about it,” she said. “My lawyer’s going to handle everything. Right now I got to go in and say goodbye to my dad.”
click to enlarge RYAN KRULL This notice was taped on the door of a home owned by Dara Daugherty in Brentwood.

When two RFT reporters visited the Rosalie Avenue house yesterday, they found a sign posted on the front door by the city of Brentwood declaring the house unsafe for human occupancy. “It is unlawful for any person to use or occupy this building,” the sign read.

Nonetheless, a person answered the door, though she insisted she had just been dropped off there by Daugherty to do some cleaning and take care of the animals. She gave the reporters permission to go into the backyard, which was relatively clear of debris aside from a trampoline and the above-ground pool.

Neighbors who did not want to give their names tell the RFT that they suspect someone is still living there. After the reporters’ initial visit to the property, one made a second stop and a man in a BMW parked on the other side of the street shouted something about trespassing and said he was going to tell the woman who owned the house what was going on.

According to neighbors, the house has been occupied by Daugherty for years and has been an annoyance for just as long. They spoke about a foul odor regularly emanating from the property, the fact it was clear tenants lived on the property, and a large number of cats who got out of the house and attacked one neighbor’s chickens. The pool served as a magnet for mosquitoes when full and flooded neighboring properties when emptied.

Michelle Boyer, communications manager for the city of Brentwood, says the raid on Daugherty’s house was triggered by the City of St. Louis’ lawsuit filed nearly two weeks ago against Daugherty and her business associates. She said the absence of smoke detectors and the presence of junk and debris were “all causing fire hazards.”

The city also issued citations, Boyer says, because “they were renting out rooms in a single family zone district.”

A few of Daugherty’s neighbors told the RFT they had been complaining for years about old furniture and other junk stacked up in front of and behind her house, feral cats and foul odors, but nothing was done.

Boyer says she was not sure about those allegations, but added that she’d just started with the city three months ago.

Boyer also had nothing to say about the role of other law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of Daugherty.

“I can’t comment on that right now,” she says.

In addition to the summons from Brentwood and the lawsuit filed against her by the City of St. Louis, Daugherty is also facing a felony burglary charge stemming from an incident in the Patch neighborhood last October. She is due in court on that charge in one week.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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