A man who owns a property described as the epicenter of gang activity in a South Los Angeles neighborhood is the target of a lawsuit announced Thursday by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.
The property has a long history of arrests, shootings, assaults and drug activity, Feuer said. The abatement lawsuit filed against Gregory Stanis White Jr. of Altadena seeks an order for him to make a list of improvements at 366 East 55th St. in the South Park neighborhood. The proposed injunction also would require White to live at the property until the criminal activity has ceased.
“There is no reason why in this city we allow properties like this to terrorize communities,” Feuer said Thursday at City Hall.
According to Feuer, the Los Angeles Police Department has made over 150 arrests at the property since 2003. He described the address as the “epicenter” and headquarters for the 52 Broadway Gangster Crips street gang.
Feuer said his office filed the lawsuit in response to a recent increase in violence at the property, as several shootings have occurred at the nine- unit building this year, including the killing of a resident outside the property in May who was not a gang member. That killing remains unsolved.
“For the citizens of the area this has been the epicenter, as the city attorney stated, of all the gang crime that goes on,” said Captain Jorge Rodriguez of the LAPD’s Newton Division. “And we have been able to make hundreds of arrests, but as we have discovered over the years, we cannot arrest our way out of a problem. And we need to take it to the next level.”
The city attorney’s office and the Los Angeles Police Department have notified White of the criminal activity at the apartment but no meaningful improvements have been made, Feuer said.
White told City News Service that he has owned the building for about 10 years but has never been contacted by the LAPD or the city attorney’s office regarding his property or the lawsuit.
“I’m willing to do what it takes to get the building cleaned up because I do believe in safety, for the tenants and for the community,” White said.
When asked about the property being an alleged headquarters of the 52 Broadway Gangster Crips street gang, White said, “I don’t agree with that,” and added that he had actually moved some problem tenants out over the last few months.
The lawsuit also seeks an injunction prohibiting gang and criminal activity at the property. It also calls for the addition of an internet- connected video monitoring system, improved lighting, secure gating and fencing, improved tenant screening and lease enforcement procedures, and armed, licensed security guards.
Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for Feuer, said a copy of the lawsuit has been sent to White but that no court date would be set until the defendant has an opportunity to file a response.
Since July 2013, Feuer said his office has filed 44 lawsuits similar to the one announced Thursday, obtained 56 injunctions, secured the closure of six gang/narcotics locations and recovered more than $400,000 in costs and fees.
“Every child in our city deserves to be able to walk down their street safely,” Feuer said. “Every child should be able to play in their front yard without fear and no parent should go to sleep at night worried that stray bullets may come into the bedroom of their kids.”
—City News Service