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Residents in Hollywood are appealing to city officials to intervene after saying two vacant buildings were taken over by squatters, causing dangerous criminal activities to the area.
The empty building at Wilton Place attracted a constant flow of transition, where residents said they had overtaken the neighborhood.
“It’s a nightmare now,” said neighbor Jean Rice. “It’s a lot of noise, a lot of drug activity, a lot of criminal activity and it’s very dangerous.”
One of two vacant buildings at Wilton Place in Hollywood said its neighbors are attracting a constant stream of homeless people and dangerous criminal activity. (KTLA) One of two vacant buildings at Wilton Place, Hollywood, said its neighbors had attracted a constant stream of homeless people and dangerous criminal activity. (KTLA) A view of the backyard of an empty building on Wilton Place in Hollywood, where neighbors said they had attracted a constant stream of homeless people and dangerous criminal activity. (KTLA) People lined up by LA police in a nearby Hollywood neighborhood who said residents were covered in crime and activity from transitional and squatters. Neighbors said two vacant Hollywood buildings bring together constant temporary flows and squatters. Views of the backyard of an empty building at Wilton Place in Hollywood said neighbors had attracted a constant stream of homeless people and dangerous criminal activity. (KTLA) Street and vacant properties are littered with transients and trash and debris from squatters that took over the vacant Hollywood buildings on Wilton Place. (KTLA) Street and vacant properties are littered with transients and trash and debris from squatters that took over the vacant Hollywood buildings on Wilton Place. (KTLA)
Rice lives in a building between two vacant properties. She tells KTLA’s Elina Abobian that squatters and homeless people constantly roam and cause trouble while wandering around.
Residents said that despite repeated calls to police and reaching out to city leaders for help, nothing has changed.
One neighbor said every day she looked at her two-storey windows, she could even find common debris and debris from some fires that allegedly caught a temporary fire.
“It’s not just a drug, it’s a gun,” another neighbor said. “We had sniff movies and before all these windows boarded, there were posters of all sorts of porn and snuff movies.”
One of the street operating buildings reportedly receives government subsidies to accommodate homeless residents, but a neighbor told KTLA that building management is not sufficient to maintain safety standards.
Regarding the two vacant buildings, KTLA received a statement from the office of LA City Councilman Hugo Soto Martinez confirming it is working on possible solutions.
“This property has become a serious concern for our neighbors and we are taking urgent action through multiple routes to address this public safety issue as quickly as possible,” the statement read. “First of all, our office is coordinating with the Department of Building and Safety to begin a formal process of declaring this property as a public nuisance. It is expected to go before the Building and Safety Committee in May. Once approved, the city can do the existing and take immediate steps to secure the site.
The neighbor said they just want to feel safe in their neighborhood again. They are seeking additional police patrols and potential legal representation.
“They were talking about implementing security on the ground, and I think this is absolutely essential,” the neighbor said. “It’s now, not later, we need to keep doing this. They’ll continue to talk about doing this, but we can’t wait any longer. This is an urgent matter. Our lives are at risk.”
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