LA Aims To Force Landlord To Live In His Own Crime-Ridden Complex

LOS ANGELES, CA — After decades of gang-related shootings, rapes, homicides, robberies and drug sales at a single Baldwin Village apartment complex, Los Angeles city officials think they have a solution to the problem: make the landlord live in his own crime-ridden apartment complex.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a lawsuit Monday asking a judge to order the owners and managers of the he 425-unit Chesapeake Apartments to live in the apartment complex considered a stronghold for a violent street gang called the Black P-Stones.

Dating back to 1996, the complex at 4616 Rodeo Road in South L.A. has been the scene of hundreds of violent crimes, including homicides, shootings, rapes, drug sales, robberies, assaults, and gun possession, according to Feuer's lawsuit. According to Feuer, a police informant recently made a dozen drug deals at the property.

"Negligent, callous management has allowed the Chesapeake Apartments to become a hotbed of terror in this neighborhood,” Feuer said in a written statement. “We’ll continue to hold property owners responsible for these harrowing conditions as we take back our communities.”

Specifically, the city is targeting Swaranjit Nijjar, a man identified as the CEO in a partnership with property owner Pama V Properties LP. Nijjar did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, which seeks a court order requiring Nijjar to live at the apartment complex until the nuisance activity is abated.

The lawsuit naming Nijjar and several entities associated with him also seeks an injunction prohibiting gang and criminal activity at the complex, along with changes to the property and managerial improvements, including an internet-connected video monitoring system, better lighting, secure fencing and gating, improved tenant screening and lease enforcement procedures, and armed, licensed security guards.

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City News Service contributed to this report. Image courtesy of Google Maps