Owner of 'nuisance' apartment complex arrested for not keeping residents safe

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A judge ordered a landlord thrown in jail because of the dangerous conditions at an apartment complex in East Point.

Police told Channel 2 Action News most of the city's crimes occur at the complex.

"Its been switched over so many times, you really can’t say whose at fault for anything," a resident,

who's asked to remain anonymous told

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes

.

He's been living at the Brookfield Apartment Complex in East Point for years. He said he doesn’t see the complex owners on the property much, but he said the managers here are doing the best they can.

"I just know that when it comes down to the people here now, they’ve been taking care of their business," the resident said.

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The number of crimes on and around the property really spiked in 2016 and 2017 so city officials stepped in and labeled the property a "nuisance."

Complex owners had to face a judge in court and that judge told them they had to make some major changes, like fixing all the lighting, the broken windows and the judge made it mandatory for owners to pay off-duty police officers to patrol the property from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day.

On Friday, Jan.12 one of the owners, Pretas Dedvukaj, told the judge he did not meet all of the requirements mainly having off-duty officers on the property for 12 hours per day.

The judge locked him up, and he stayed in the city jail for two days.

Residents Fernandes spoke to said they didn't really think that was fair.

"You have bad things that go on everywhere, and you really can’t place that on one person," a resident said.

This isn't over, the judge has a final order which lays out what needs to be done at the apartment complex.

One thing that's new is requiring the owners to designate two apartment units for officers to actually live on the property. If they don't comply, there will be more jail time.

Cox Media Group