HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — At a community meeting Tuesday night, Henrico police revealed that the owner of 7200 West Durwood Crescent has been charged with a mix of 23 felony and misdemeanor charges, and residents spoke out about what they saw going down at the property.
Two people were arrested and many neighborhood homes were evacuated for more than 24 hours after officials found explosive materials at the Durwood Crescent house. According to police, the initial evacuation was for homes in the immediate vicinity of Michael Hardy’s house, but then residents called police about Hardy previously “shooting things off in the backyard” and said they had seen him digging in the backyard.
Henrico police said there was an ongoing criminal investigation for the property, but the incident provided “probable cause” to further their investigation.
One resident said that Hardy was seen digging in his backyard so deep, the ground came up to his neck. Since then, 8News has confirmed a tractor and an SUV are currently located in the backyard of the property.
Henrico Police said in the meeting that Hardy “was a man of a thousand projects,” and confirmed that the department has the technology to do scans in the yard, so they performed scans the evening of the search. Police did not say if the scans found anything.
One resident also told of “half-naked girls found outside” at the residence, adding that the neighbors “have seen drug deals on the corner.” The resident did not specify the age of the girls.
Hardy’s house has been confirmed to be the registered office address for a modeling agency: Vixen Management. The company’s social media posts include scandalous, racy photographs of women.
Hardy has been charged with a total of 17 felony charges and six misdemeanor charges, for a total of 23 charges. Many of the charges are drug possession charges with intent to distribute meth, crack cocaine, Xanax and fentanyl.
What still needs more clarity, is the 47 police calls to service that were made to the Durwood house from January 2017 through March 2022. A majority of the calls were made concerning missing person reports, 14 in total.
In previous reporting, neighbors of the home at 7200 West Durwood Crescent said that the house “had like 20 cameras on it.” A Google Earth street view of the property shows at least seven cameras set up around the front and right exterior of the home.
Police said the investigation is ongoing which means there is a chance for additional charges. The woman that was originally arrested with Hardy, 21-year-old Sydney Crowe, has been transferred to another state, according to police, and it’s unclear the reason why.
Hardy is being held without bond after officials seized over 100 items –which police said were mostly drugs, firearms, and bomb-making materials– from his home.
Hardy has also been charged with setting booby traps, maintaining a fortified drug house and possession of firearms while illegally manufacturing or distributing a schedule I or II controlled substance.
