Severe rat infestation in a Warner Robins home leads to next-door neighbors moving

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Severe rat infestation in a Warner Robins home leads to next-door neighbors moving

A Warner Robins couple is moving because of a severe rat infestation in their next-door neighbor’s home, with the rodents now invading their residence.

Helen Jones

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of the rats scurrying up and down and along a brick fence that separates the property she and her husband rent from the next-door neighbor’s home.

She also shared photos of the rats, including one sitting on top of her granddaughter’s stroller during the day, and pointed to a live trap by the brick fence filled with live and dead rats.

Jones said her husband empties the trap daily as well as regular traps set in their laundry room. She worries about the safety of her senior cat.

“The emotional distress,” Jones said of the rats. “It’s hard to sleep. I’ve done nothing but cry. It’s ruined our Christmas.”

Helen Jones, of Warner Robins, who rents the house next to the condemned property on Angus Boulevard, speaks on how she has been impacted by the property’s rat infestation while standing in her side yard on on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Warner Robins, Georgia. Jones said that the stress of dealing with the rats that are coming from next door has “ruined her Christmas” and she is making plans to move out of the house.

What now?

The city has condemned the single-family, one-story home at 211 Angus Blvd., with plans to demolish the home after eliminating the infestation and after asbestos abatement.

Multiple notices from the city are posted on the property to vacate the premises and a sign erected by the city warns that the residence is unfit for human habitation and that use of the building is unlawful.

The yard of the deteriorating home is overgrown and cluttered with furniture, mattresses, riding toys for toddlers, a flat-screen TV, a vacuum, a discarded artificial Christmas tree, and a host of other odds and ends such as an Indian chief statue and a white skeleton pirate’s head.

A taxidermy buck sits among other items inside of the open garage at the condemned property on Angus Boulevard on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Warner Robins, Georgia. The city of Warner Robins has condemned the residential property because of a severe rat infestation on the property. Neighbors say the house has been in disrepair for years.

Neighbors said that the resident of the home, who goes by “Eddie,” has lived there alone since his mother died a few years ago and does odd jobs around the neighborhood.

“We thought he just had a problem with hoarding,” said Andrea Miller, who lives across the street. “It just kept getting worse and worse.”

Then they started seeing the rats.

“They come out of the boxes,” said Miller, pointing to discarded boxes in the front yard. “They just scamper across.”

Neighborhood residents are concerned about potential health concerns from the rats and of the rodents invading their homes.

Dead and alive rats sit in a trap in the yard of Helen Jones on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Warner Robins, Georgia. Jones rents the house next door to the condemned property and reports seeing dozens of rats every night on the brick fence separating their houses and even said that the rats have come inside of her house.

Eric Pfeiffer, who also lives across the street, said he’s put out 60 pounds of poison corn on his property. He can see the rats in the windows of the condemned home at night.

Neighbors said the city had been contacted repeatedly about the property. The city released this statement:

“The city of Warner Robins has been working for many months to address the subject property through the legal code enforcement process. Unfortunately, the property owner has been uncooperative, which has resulted in delayed court dates and hampered our ability to address the condition of the property.

“Last week we became aware of a rat infestation at the property, which is a condition that allowed us to immediately condemn the property and step outside of the hearing process to aggressively remediate the situation. Once the infestation has been controlled, the city will undertake asbestos abatement and the demolition of the property.

“Because this is an ongoing issue involving legal proceedings, the city will not provide further comment or provide interviews on this topic at this time.”

Various items, including children’s toys and furniture clutter the front yard of a condemned property on Angus Boulevard on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Warner Robins, Georgia. The city of Warner Robins has condemned the residential property because of a severe rat infestation on the property. Neighbors say the house has been in disrepair for years.

Code enforcement

According to a Warner Robins police code enforcement file created March 19, 2023, the city had been attempting to get Mongkol “Eddie” Sukniam to clean up the exterior of the property for months — including an appearance in Municipal Court on March 21 of this year, during which he was given another extension. The file was obtained by The Telegraph under the state’s open records laws.

The first mention of anything rat related in the file was a year later on March 26 of this year, when code enforcement and city police officers went inside based on an inspection warrant issued by a municipal judge. Sukniam was not at home.

“Once we were inside the house, we discovered that the house is not fit for human habitation,” according to the file notes. “There were exposed electrical outlets, several rat openings in the wall.

“There were buckets of rancid liquid placed throughout the exterior of the property, as well as inside. There was a rancid smell throughout the entire property. We investigated as much as we could within the property. There were multiple objects in the hallway which caused a possible trip or entanglement hazard, which kept us from going further down the hallway. There is a bed that is placed in the living room where the occupant was residing. There was several hot plates attached to extension cords for cooking.”

Sukniam missed his next Municipal Court date of June 13 and a warrant on the misdemeanor charge of failure to appear was issued, according to the case file.

On Dec. 2, the city attorney’s office contacted code enforcement after a neighbor complained of large rats in the window, which were videotaped, and of a foul odor coming from the residence, according to case file notes.

That led to code enforcement and police going inside the home Dec. 3 and finding deplorable living conditions, including clutter and trash throughout. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system wasn’t working, there was no running water, the refrigerator didn’t have any doors, and the stove didn’t work. Two electric heaters and a hot plate with food being warmed were in the living room.

The case file notes also describe rats running across the front porch and boxes of bananas and all sorts of vegetables placed in front of the house.

“You can hear rats moving all throughout the entire property as if it were a highway,” the notes read.

Eric Pfeiffer, who lives in the house across the street, stands in front of a condemned property on Angus Boulevard on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Warner Robins, Georgia. Pfeiffer said that he has placed 60 pounds of poisoned corn around his house with hopes of keeping the rats from across the street from getting inside his house.

Sukniam, who came to the door immediately when code enforcement and police arrived, was told he was not supposed to be living in the house and was arrested on the misdemeanor failure to appear charge. His court- appointed attorney, Greg Bell, was not able to be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

On Dec. 5, code enforcement, police and a pest control representative went inside the home. Here’s an excerpt from the case file notes.

“There were rats running throughout the entire property. There were numerous amounts of holes in the walls as well as in the ceiling. There was ****** all over the floor. There was ****** all over the floor, and while we were there, all you could hear was the rattling of rats in every single wall as well as the ceiling. The hallway was cluttered with debris. We chose not to advance down there for fear of entrapment.”

On Tuesday, Sukniam was given the city’s notification of the rat infestation and intent to demolish the property while in jail, according to the case file notes.

According to the case file notes, a pest control company will need to seal up all the holes inside with corrugated steel mesh for the infestation abatement to commence. But first three inoperable vehicles and all of the old furniture, junk and debris in the driveway and yard will have to be removed.

The city has not indicated a timeline for eliminating the infestation, asbestos abatement and demolition.

In addition to Sukniam, the code enforcement file lists Edwin J. Denmark and Sureerat Denmark as the property owners and referred to them as Sukniam’s relatives who live in Gainesville, Georgia. No current telephone numbers could be found for either with a LexisNexis public records search.

Helen Jones snapped this photo of rats on a brick fence separating the property she rents from her next-door neighbor’s home that’s been condemned and expected to be demolished because of a severe rate infestation.

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