Debra Hardy wanted on 69 bench warrants
A wanted poster for Debra Hardy that is being circulated by police in Bentleyville
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
An apartment building owned by Debra Hardy’s real estate company at 145 Washington St. in Cokeburg has a broken door and windows.
BENTLEYVILLE – A former wife of the founder of 84 Lumber Co. was wanted on 69 bench warrants for failing to appear in district court over blight citations in the Bentleyville area.
District Judge Curt Thompson also has issued more than $40,000 in fines and court costs against A&F Real Estate, owned by Debra Maley Hardy, involving blighted properties she owns in Bentleyville and nearby Ellsworth and Cokeburg, Bentleyville police said.
Hardy, of Rostraver Township, has not attended any hearings in the cases and has been found guilty in absentia on citations for such issues as her properties being dangerous or having high weeds, Bentleyville police Chief Rich Young said.
Young said he has been hanging wanted posters bearing her image in local businesses in attempts to lure her to court from her mansion with six bedrooms and indoor and outdoor swimming pools off a gated driveway at 1 Debbie Lane.
“I am running out of options,” Young said Friday.
She is the second of five women who married Joe Hardy, who also owns Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington.
The citations since 2017 involve seven buildings in Cokeburg, three in Ellsworth and one in Bentleyville, court records show. One apartment building in Cokeburg is missing a door and has broken windows. All of the buildings are vacant, Young said.
“This is blatant disregard. Something has to be done with these properties,” Young said.
Debra Hardy could not be reached for comment Friday. Her Pittsburgh attorney, David Shrager, also could not be reached.
Later Friday Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle suspended the warrants pending a hearing Wednesday before Thompson after another attorney, Sean Logue, stepped into the case.