Sewage, garbage, crime uncovered in city raid

Jen Lawson

Friday, June 3, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

Raw sewage, standing water and everywhere you step, garbage.

The Monterey Villas apartment complex near the Stratosphere was once seen as symbol of hope in the blighted Meadows Village neighborhood, but its unsanitary conditions -- one veteran Metro Police officer said he'd never encountered anything like it -- led city officials to seal 24 of the 81 units Thursday.

"This is the nicest-looking complex on the exterior," Sgt. Eric Fricker said. "You walk into the rental office and it has this beautiful tile, and they you go into the apartments and they're a mess. It's like a trap."

Police cited the property manager and the owner in Los Angeles for maintaining a chronic nuisance and for not completing the city's anti-crime program required for all apartment managers.

Police also arrested six people for trespassing.

The raid came after police began noticing an increase in drug-related crime at the complex at 2320 Tam Drive near Sahara Avenue and Industrial Road.

Police sent letters to the property manager and owner, alerting them of the problems and asking them to clean up the complex.

Fricker said they never responded, adding that they found the letter on the desk in the rental office. While not quite posh, the office was decorated with care -- shiny tile flooring and wall sconce-style light fixtures that seemed out of place considering the conditions outside.

Police obtained a warrant to search an apartment May 19 as part of a drug investigation and found the complex to be so unsafe and unsanitary that Metro approached the city about their concerns.

Las Vegas Neighborhood Services took emergency action and boarded up eight apartments two weeks ago, Fricker said. The owner was billed for 50 sheets of plywood.

But Thursday morning officials found that squatters had pried the wood off some of the units and were continuing to live in them.

"I'm smelling raw sewage -- it's terrible," Las Vegas Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said as she stood in the courtyard among plastic drink bottles, broken beer bottles, food wrappers and other debris.

"We're raising the bar in the city. We're no longer going to let something like this occur."

Police had alerted Tarkanian about the issues at the complex, and Thursday law enforcement and city and county agencies spent most of the day investigating the problems and documenting potential health and code violations.

Jennifer Sizemore, spokeswoman for the Clark County Health District, said inspectors found units without electricity, "extreme plumbing problems" including toilets and sinks that had been removed, raw sewage, water damage and holes in walls and floors.

Representatives from Nevada Legal Services were on hand during the inspections Thursday to inform renters of their rights.

About half of the apartments are occupied by people who pay rent, ranging from $475 to $775 a month. The rest should be vacant, but drug users and dealers and prostitutes have been living in them, Fricker said.

Some of the locks had been changed by squatters, and several apartments were powered via a rigged system that had illegally linked to the complex's power box.

"The key is to breathe through your mouth, not your nose, but watch for flies," Fricker said as he walked through a decrepit apartment with a broken-apart refrigerator in the middle of the living room, the air conditioner in pieces and trash strewn throughout.

"This place is totally out of control. This is the worst squalor I've ever seen."

A backpack with Old Spice deodorant sticking out was in the bedroom, face wash in the bathroom and girlie posters were on the walls, indicating the unit had been inhabited. Gang-related drawings were in a different apartment.

In another, police found a hydraulic lift nearly the size of a small car. Fricker said property crimes detectives were investigating.

There are discrepancies as to who owns the property, Fricker said. County assessor records show the 10-building complex is owned by Monterey Villas LLC based in Los Angeles. The phone number associated with that address belongs to SRP Properties, which also might be known as Pro Residential Services. A representative of that company did not return phone calls.

In the late 1990s the complex, known as Aladdin Villas at the time, had become so rundown that the city made plans to demolish it. After some legal wrangling the owner, Apache Enterprises, the city began working to bring the complex back into compliance with city codes.

Apache refurbished the complex, and in October 1998 the city held a dedication ceremony of the newly-christened Monterey Villas. City officials called the improvements "unbelievable" and compared the changes in the complex to sun shining through the clouds.

Using funds from a federal Weed and Seed grant, Metro rented an apartment that was used as a mini substation for a few years.

"We knew the property owner very well," Fricker said. "I was close to that place for a long time. To see it go downhill is really sad."

The property wasn't without problems, however. In June 2001 a homicide suspect who had been staying at the apartments was shot and killed by police. The man allegedly used his girlfriend as a shield before pointing a gun at officers.

A noticeable decline came in June 2003 when the new owner bought the property, Fricker said. A property manager was often absent and the owner allowed the complex to become decrepit again.

A resident who would only give his first name, Clarence, said the complex had become more rundown since he moved in four years ago, but he didn't have many complaints about its current condition.

But, he said, "There are a lot of strange-looking people, people who don't live here."

His apartment was tidy and carefully furnished with a large decorative mirror on one wall and framed pictures. He was watching "The Price Is Right" on television as police and city officials inspected the neighboring units.

Someone came over to fix his air conditioner Wednesday, he said. It took a month, but he was happy it was repaired.

"Nothing is as bad as it's made out to be," he said.