TOPOCK, Ariz. – Pastor Lionel Grant of the First Southern Baptist Church in Topock signed a 10-year lease with the Little League team in Topock March 2025. However, that lease agreement, has been violated and he wants them evicted.
After the Board of Supervisors meeting had ended Monday, Aug. 17, Pastor Grant spoke with Supervisor Gould, District 5, about the problem. He told Gould that the Little League team drafted the lease themselves and he agreed to lease the church’s baseball field to them for $1 a year for 10 years.
However, he’s been finding condoms and evidence of drug and alcohol use on the property.
“One of the parents was drunk and couldn’t make it to the bathroom and peed on church property,” Pastor Grant said. “That was witnessed and that’s indecent exposure.”
The Little League Board told Pastor Grant they didn’t have to leave, he said, but they’re causing problems for Pastor Grant and members of First Southern Baptist Church, so they need to go, he said.
Grant took them to court and on the day of the hearing, August 4, the judge dismissed the case because he said the pastor did not have all the information needed to prove his case. He said the eviction notice was missing.
“Not true. I had it,” Pastor Grant said. “I knew it was important and I made sure everything was there.”
Supervisor Gould told him to serve them again with an eviction notice, to file again to get them evicted.
