'I Had No Place Else To Go': South LA Building Housing At Least 40 People Evacuated Due To Deplorable Living Conditions
SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Dozens of people, including small children, were evacuated from a South Los Angeles building Friday morning where they were living in horrible, deplorable and illegal conditions.
At 6:43 a.m., L.A. City Fire Department crews responded to the building located in the 800 block of West 57th Street, where they began going door-to-door, evacuating about 40 people who resided in filthy, uninhabitable conditions.
According to a spokesperson for L.A City Councilmember Curren Price, the building was without running water, power or gas. Authorities found cockroaches on the ceiling and people living in kitchens.
"We found out about it because we were looking at something else and it was brought to our attention," Price told CBS2.
The building, New Heaven & Earth Christian Center Hope, has been on the city attorney's radar for some time according to a number of complaints filed in recent years. Last year alone, there were at least three complaints filed against the owner, Creative Investment Group in Burbank.
Also named in the complaints were Melvin Hoffman, who said he is only a shareholder in the company, and Karl Van Den Burg.
"Nobody wanted to help," Vandenburg said. "When we tried, the police department wouldn't help. The court wouldn't give an order. We called the health department, because there are children there, and we called them. And then they come out, and they want to blame us."
The structure, which may have at one time housed a church, had about 25 rooms. Families were paying anywhere from $600 to $1,000 a month in rent, CBS2 learned. LAPD officers told CBS2 they had received numerous calls about drug abuse, gang activity and possible sex trafficking, although that was not confirmed.
"My husband told me to make like we were on a camping trip," one woman who resided there told CBS2.
"I'm paying close to about $650 a month...I had no place else to go," said one man who also told CBS2 he'd been living there for about five years.
The evacuated families were being taken to a shelter and given motel vouchers. There were no reported injuries.
Los Angeles police assisted with the evacuation and were continuing to assist in the investigation.
According to court filings, the defendants have been charged with 14 misdemeanor violations. It is unclear when they are expected to face a judge.
