People who live at a condo complex in Long Beach say their neighbor has been terrorizing them by breaking their windows and threatening them for several months — and no one will stop him.
“That window twice, window outside, the old lady’s window, window upstairs. Some people have restraining orders; doesn’t help,” Anna Lugo told NBC4 as she pointed around the courtyard to the condo complex on Gladys Avenue.
Surveillance video from neighbors shows the man breaking windows of both renters’ and owners’ and even a car in front of the complex.
“We see him very clearly with I think it’s like a crowbar or sometimes it’s a chain just going at it with windows,” said David Lugo, who also lives in the complex.
The most recent vandalism was last Saturday at 1 a.m. Neighbors said the man broke two windows on the 20-year home of a 78-year-old woman who’s half blind from a stroke and now battling cancer.
“He was actually arrested last weekend, but he was back out the next day,” David Lugo said.
“I don’t feel safe here and unfortunately, the police who came here probably nine times already. We don’t see results,” Anna Lugo added.
Those who have lived in the complex the longest told NBC4 that the man has owned his place for two decades, but the violent episodes started within the last year. They said he often lays on the floor and curses at them in Spanish.
In one video, he can be heard yelling at neighbors to “call the police,” stating, “You’re just renters, not owners like us.”
“We have to install cameras in every window because I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, even,” Anna Lugo said.
While many have cameras, they couldn’t share video with us at the request of their homeowners association, who said it is taking legal action.
NBC4 tried knocking on the door of the man’s home, where even his own windows are broken. He did not answer.
Another woman said she wants to move, but she can’t afford it.
A Zillow search shows the apartment where they say the man repeatedly broke the window — it was listed for sale at $420,000 dollars less than a month ago.
“It’s either live in stress here or leave, so we’re leaving, and we’re going to pay extra for rent in a place that’s not that much better, but it’ll be safer,” David Lugo concluded.
We reached out to the property management company Friday evening, a woman told us their office was closed for the day.
We also reached out to police to ask how many times they’ve responded to the complex and what actions they’ve taken. We did not receive a response Friday night.