THR and Associates, which burst into Springfield two years ago with big promises of thousands of high-paying jobs, is now being evicted from several properties and sued by former employees.

Just after noon today (Wednesday) the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office served the second of three THR evictions on a warehouse full of inventory on Taylor Avenue. Chief Deputy Jack Campbell says landlord's locks are now on the building.

Campbell said, "There's nobody from THR allowed back on the property. It now has the landlords locks back on the building. And, THR has been notified that if they show back up on the property, they could be arrested for trespass. The inventory will be between THR, the landlord, and any other entity that has any interest in that inventory." (This could be the Internal Revenue Service.)

Campbell says his office served a similar eviction to THR at a site on West Wabash earlier this week, and there is one more to be served this week.

The company's flagship retail store, J. Parsons in the Parkway Point Shopping Center has been closed. THR's Buy Sell Trade location on North Grand Avenue now has padlocked gates. A group of former employees has filed a federal lawsuit against THR accusing the company of labor and wage law violations.

posted 08/22/12 5:14pm