Neighbors battle fleeing roaches as a squatters’ lair is cleaned out

What would ordinarily be good news — the eviction of squatters and cleanup of a house they’d taken over — has turned into a running battle for neighbors, as they attempt to fend off the cockroaches that are also vacating the home.

People living in the area of Webster and Hodgson streets said Wednesday that the roach problem they’ve had for a while has escalated sharply with the developments at 1251-1253 Webster St.

“There’s a line at night. You could see them walking over the street to come visit us,” said Andy Sookdeo of 1231 Hodgson St.

Sookdeo said he has to regularly spray around his house to ward off the roaches.

“There was one sitting on the veranda with us,” he said.

John Horton, who also lives on Hodgson Street, said the problem has been occurring for about three years, and the cause was people who were squatting at the two-story Webster Street house and garage.

“They were throwing the garbage out of the top window and putting it in the other guy’s yard,” Horton said.

The city did send an inspector to look at the property and spray it, according to Horton. They also informed the owner, who came to evict the squatters.

Workers were removing garbage and cleaning up the garage late Wednesday afternoon. A man who would only identify himself as Vernon said he recently bought the property and evicted a squatter. He has somebody coming in to spray the property.

Zabida Persaud of 1225 Webster St. is also having problems with the roaches.

“Every night, I have to get up and kill about 10, 12,” she said. “They get in the house. They’re all around the house.”

Persaud said she was surprised when she found out people were living at the Webster Street residence.

Acting Mayor Gary McCarthy said he wasn’t aware of the specific property but knew of other houses with similar problems.

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