Teen vandals may target southwest valley apartment complex

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Residents of a southwest Valley apartment complex are on high alert. That's because their properties were damaged by what they believe to be teenage vandals.

The apartment complex is located near the intersection of Fort Apache and Tropicana.

On Monday, a notice was posted on several apartment buildings. He warns “be vigilant”. Management writes that juveniles at the apartment complex next door “trespass, cut off power to the building, vandalize homes and amenities, steal from patios and porches, carry and shoot residents and pets with airsoft automatic rifles”.

The notice also states that the Metropolitan Police have been notified.

“It puts me in danger,” said resident Tachara Harrison.

Harrison hasn't been a victim of any vandalism herself, but she said knowing it happened in her own community left her perplexed.

“We can't stay here all day monitoring who's doing what and the traffic coming in and out,” Harrison said.

Channel 13 spoke with neighbors living in the building with the broken windows. They didn't want to be filmed but told us they were woken up late at night by teenagers throwing rocks at their windows.

A neighbor told Channel 13 she feared she would have to pay for both repairs and a fine for property damage.

We wanted to get answers from an expert on tenant liability. We spoke with attorney Ryan McConnell of the Nevada Legal Aid Center.

“It really depends on who did the damage,” McConnell said. “If it is third-party vandals who [have] no connection with the tenant in any way, then the owners would be responsible. »

McConnell said fines and other penalties can be written into a tenant's rental agreement, but generally, landlords are responsible for all repairs.

In fact, Nevada lawmakers passed Senate Bill 381 last legislative session, which “prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant to pay repair costs.”

Harrison said knowing vandals might target his neighborhood made him want to secure his home even more.

“I get packages here and I don’t want any of these items to get stolen,” Harrison said. “We work hard for where we live and where we stay.”

We contacted Cushman & Wakefield, which manages the apartment complex where the apparent vandalism occurred, and Nevada HAND, which manages the apartment complex where the teenage vandals are believed to have come from. They did not respond to our requests at the time of publishing this article.

Anyone with information is asked to call Metro's Summerlin Area Command Center at 702-828-9400.

Tenants or landlords who need a legal consultation can contact the Nevada Legal Aid Center every Wednesday HERE.