CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dr. Kelly Hanna says he started his dental practice on McArdle Road 30 years ago.
But about a year and a half ago, Dr. Kelly Hanna says a Goodwill Donation Station trailer set up in the empty lot next door.
“People would come up at night and just dump stuff,” Hanna said.
Eventually, that area where the Goodwill trailer began turning into a real mess. Especially when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Coastal Bend in March, Hanna said.
And the mess began spilling over onto Dr. Hanna’s property.
Vandalism. Trash. Graffiti. The homeless sleeping on Hanna’s property.
He told the Troubleshooters he’d show up to work in the morning, and find syringes, condoms, liquor bottles, and more on his property.
People were helping themselves to his outdoor water faucets, and breaking into his air conditioning unit.
His office had been broken into twice. That’s why he installed security cameras.
He says he called the Corpus Christi Police Department several times, but the problem didn’t go away.
In fact, it didn’t go away until Hanna contacted someone else for help.
The Troubleshooters spoke with Richard and Ernestine Valadez, who’ve owned the lot next door for years.
They said about a year and a half ago, they allowed Goodwill to put a Donation Station on the lot, but the lot started getting messy.
So about a month or so ago, the couple asked Goodwill to move, and then they had the fence installed.
“And since then? It's been quiet,” Hanna said.
Hanna says he had given the Corpus Christi Police Department authority to arrest anyone caught on his property who’s not there on business because he’s inside trying to run his business.
