DETROIT – A prescription bottle left at the scene of a demolished house in Detroit led police to the company responsible for tearing down the home meant for a needy family.
Police say Gipson Brother's Trucking, a Detroit company that also does demolitions, tore down the house that Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo was rehabbing.
The company's owner, Sherman Gipson, is charged with malicious destruction of property worth more than $20,000 for tearing down the house.
According to Gay-Dagnogo, a fire damaged the home over the summer. She was considering having the home torn down, so she put out bids to vet demolition. Gipson's bid was $7,000, an offer Gay-Dagnogo acknowledged through an email, but never gave the company permission to demolish the house.
Police say if Gay-Dagnogo would have initially disclosed she was considering demolition, the investigation would have concluded quicker.
Gay-Dagnogo disputes that claim.