A neighborhood in northern Los Angeles has been overrun by homeless people who are routinely breaking into two vacant homes to do drugs, start fires and even advertise snuff films, according to neighbors.
The empty buildings on Wilton Place in Hollywood have tall chain link fences and signs forbidding trespassing but that has not dissuaded a rash of often unclothed transients from making themselves at home.
Residents have called police countless times but the problem persists nonetheless, KTLA reported.
‘It’s a nightmare right now,’ Jeane Rice, a neighbor, told the outlet. ‘It’s a lot of noise, a lot of drug activity, a lot of criminal activity and it’s very dangerous.’
Rice lives in a building in between the two abandoned properties and a residential hotel. The hotel is reportedly receiving government subsidies to house the homeless, but residents feel that the owner of the hotel isn’t doing enough to maintain safety.
Pictures and videos shared with KTLA show at least four homeless people roaming around the condemned properties. Charring of the empty homes appear to show that they’ve started bonfires.
But it goes deeper than that, according to one neighbor.
‘It’s not only drugs, guns, there were snuff films. All these windows before they were boarded up had all kinds of porn and snuff film posters on them. It was insane,’ she told KTLA.
‘They were going back and forth, so they would hang out on the front porch of 1732 [Wilton Place],’ she said, which is the address of the hotel building. She said some of the transients were prostitutes and were with their ‘Johns.’
After a public outcry from residents, Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez, who represents Hollywood, has been forced to respond.
His office put out a statement indicating that he is working on a possible solution to this long-standing issue.
‘This property has become a serious concern for neighbors, and we’re taking urgent action through multiple routes to address this public safety matter as quickly as possible,’ Martinez’s statement read.
‘First, our office is coordinating with the Department of Building and Safety to begin the formal process of declaring this property as a public nuisance.
‘The case is expected to go before the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners in May. If approved, the City can place a lien and take immediate steps to secure the site ourselves.’
Neighbors aren’t satisfied with this and want additional police patrols. They are also looking into finding legal representation.
‘They were talking about implementing security on the ground, which I think is absolutely essential,’ Rice said. ‘It needs to be done now, not later. They keep talking about doing this or that, but the thing is, we can’t wait anymore. This is an urgent matter. Our lives are at risk.’