Lotto winners face Portland lawsuit

PORTLAND – A couple who talked of helping young people fight drug addiction and alcohol abuse after winning a $2.6 million Oregon Lottery jackpot are facing a city lawsuit alleging they held a four-month-long party that included public sex, fights and signs of drug dealing.

The lawsuit filed against Elizabeth and Samuel Howard detailed allegations of parties featuring fights that spilled into other yards, couples having sex in plain view, an assault on a neighbor, slashed tires and loud music.

Howard, 54, denied the allegations. “I just feel like I’m a victim in the whole situation,” he said Friday.

In October 2005, when the couple accepted a lump-sum payment of $871,000 from the Oregon Lottery, they spoke of their faith. When Elizabeth was overcome with emotion and sobbed on Samuel’s shoulder, he comforted her gently and told her everything would be OK.

Now they are facing a lawsuit filed under a little-used chronic nuisance law aimed at ridding neighborhoods of crime-infested properties.

The Oregonian newspaper said the couple and two sons named in the suit all have a criminal history: Samuel; Elizabeth, 47; and Samuel Jr., 24, have been convicted of drug offenses. Westley, 20, has been convicted of robbery.

The city wants to board the house up for six to 12 months, according to Roland Iparraguirre, a deputy city attorney. But Howard said his house is on the market, which could aid in settling the lawsuit.

If the Howards sell the house and the criminal activity stops, so would the litigation, Iparraguirre said. “A bona fide sale – that would cure the problem,” he said.

But if they sell it to someone they know, such as a relative, and the parties continue, so will the lawsuit, Iparraguirre said.

The Howards bought the 17-year-old, two-story house at the end of a cul-de-sac last July for $285,000, according to city records.

In the first four months after they moved in, police were called to the street 52 times, the lawsuit said.

Police have received a long and varied list of complaints, including domestic violence, prostitution, traffic at all hours and unsupervised children as young as 2 roaming the streets.

The lawsuit also says that children are often used as lookouts, that there are frequent, brief visits and multiple locks on the door, all indications of drug dealing.

Iparraguirre declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, other than to say that neighbors on the street made a strong case to police. Neighbors declined to comment Friday to the newspaper.