- March 27, 2024
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Four children were found living in a home with broken windows, cockroaches and spoiled food.
BY EMILY BLACKWOOD | STAFF WRITER
What started as a domestic disturbance call led to an arrest and the removal of four children from a residence police described as in “deplorable conditions.”
According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded Feb. 26 to a fight with injuries at Oak Park Trailer Park, at 1141 U.S. 1 N. After arresting James Williams for battery of his live-in girlfriend, Brittney Waltz-Pinder, officers said they noticed bugs crawling on the walls, ceiling and floor.
Deputies asked for immediate assistance from the Department of Children and Families after further investigating that the home the four kids, ages 1, 2, 3 and 4, lived in had cardboard replacing the numerous broken windows, and there was no heat other than from a kitchen oven. The report also stated the home smelled of cigarettes and the children had no clean clothes.
The commercial manager for the trailer park said he knew about the damaged windows and had been trying to get Williams to fix them for six weeks. He also said the home did not have cockroaches until it was rented to Williams.
The manager could not be reached for comment.