Myrtle Beach ‘Yellow House’ owner arrested on drug charges

Taylor Ford
·2 min read
1

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The owner of the infamous Myrtle Beach “Yellow House”, a haven for criminal activity through the years was arrested earlier this month on a slew of drug charges, online booking records show.

Joseph Rideoutte was charged with two counts of possession of cocaine, three counts of manufacturing or distributing cocaine, trafficking cocaine, possession of fentanyl, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a schedule IV drug.

Rideoutte was arrested May 2 and was released the next day on a $170,000 bond, online booking records show.

The Yellow House at 407 4th Avenue N. was ordered to be closed for good in January by 15th Circuit Court Judge Kristi R. Curtis, according to publicly available legal filings. Previously, a judge in 2019 ordered it closed for a year.

The Yellow House was closed on three separate occasions by a circuit judge due to being a nuisance. The most recent order to close the house expired in April 2022.

When the most recent order expired, Myrtle Beach police responded to calls on the property for assault and drug dealing, prompting 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson to file a petition to shut the house down under South Carolina’s nuisance law.

In August, police responded to calls of shots fired and a tenant being stabbed. While they were inside, officers noticed poor living conditions and on that same day, code enforcement officials deemed the home unfit and ordered it closed.

News13 has reached out to the Myrtle Beach Police Department for the report on Rideoutte’s arrest. According to online public records, a trial in the Yellow House injunction is scheduled for the week of June 10.

📲 Download the News13 app to stay updated on the go
📧 Sign up for WBTW email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.
💻 Find today’s top stories on WBTW.com for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

Count on News13 for updates.

* * *

Taylor Ford is a digital journalist for News13. She joined the News13 team in January 2023. Taylor is a Florence native and covers the Pee Dee out of News13’s Florence Bureau. Read more of Taylor’s work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.