Neighbors worried over house activity

Friday, November 6, 1998

Neighbors worried over house activity

ARRESTS: Manager says no major problems at the Sober Living
Apartments

By Ann Hawkey

Daily Bruin Contributor

Westwood Sober Living Apartments, home to recovering drug and
alcohol users, has become a well-known stop for Los Angeles police
officers since it opened in September 1997 at 522 Landfair Ave.

During the past year, the Los Angeles Police Department has made
seven arrests of Sober Living tenants, five for misdemeanor crimes
and two for felonies.

Three of these arrests were made at the the apartment building
or outside of it. Three more misdemeanor crimes also occurred at
the building, but arrests were not made in these cases.

"Unfortunately, there have been some incidents where those who
reside there have come into contact with the law, whether in the
form of a citation or an arrest," said Officer Sergio Guzman,
LAPD’s senior officer for Westwood.

Calls to the location have become so frequent that Guzman keeps
an ongoing file on the address to follow the police activity
there.

"I am monitoring it, and if we see a specific pattern then we
take it up with the managers there," Guzman said.

Between Aug. 30 and Sept. 26, LAPD recorded seven calls for
police assistance at the location, including three for assault with
a deadly weapon, one for theft, two for a landlord/tenant dispute
and one for battery, although the original calls may not accurately
reflect the situations officers found, Guzman said.

LAPD has not recorded any calls to the location since that
time.

Manager Willie Hinton said that any tenant involved in any
violent confrontation in the house will be evicted.

He also said, however, that the only arrest he could remember
was when a tenant was picked up outside the complex for a
jaywalking violation.

"They arrested him while he was walking up the street," Hinton
said. "He spent the night in jail for it."

Managers of the complex also said that no arrests had been made
inside the building.

Sober Living Apartments is not a halfway house and does not
offer any medical treatment or counseling programs, which allows it
to operate without a license.

Despite the many visits made by police, Hinton said he has not
heard any negative feedback from neighbors.

"I’m not going to say it’s not going to happen, but it hasn’t
happened yet," he said. "We have the door closed all the time
­ the only way you can tell we’re even here is when we go in
and out."

Hinton has managed the apartments since they opened, a few
months after Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity vacated the property.

Former members of the fraternity said they are uncomfortable
with the Sober Living Apartments in the building.

"I do not like the fact that this place is there, especially
since I used to live there," said Jared Klein, a fourth-year
American literature and culture student.

Fraternity members also said the building was in such poor
physical condition, they doubted it could even pass a health code
inspection.

"The house had a lot of wear and tear on the building that the
landlord refused to fix," said Dave Denicky, president of the
fraternity. "It might not have passed a health inspection."

Hinton said tenants of the building have helped make the needed
renovations.

"It’s 100 percent better than it was when the fraternity was
here," he said. "The tenants work on the house. If I have to call
somebody in, it’s just because we don’t have the tools here."

Although the presence of Sober Living Apartments on Landfair
Ave. has created some worry among neighbors, Guzman said the crime
rates have not dramatically increased, and he sees no signs that it
poses a threat to area residents.CHARLES KUO/Daily Bruin

In the past year LAPD has made seven arrests at the Sober Living
Apartments located at 522 Landfair Ave.

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