Owners Told to Curb Drug Traffic at Sun Valley Apartments

A Superior Court commissioner Wednesday ordered the owners of a Sun Valley apartment complex known by neighbors as the “Valley Drugstore” to take steps to stop rampant drug dealing there.

The temporary restraining order issued by Commissioner Virginia Chernack requires the owners of the nine-unit building at 10538-10544 1/2 Cantara St. to take such steps as hiring a uniformed security guard and installing high-intensity lighting.

The order was issued in response to a civil lawsuit filed by Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn. Under the state’s nuisance abatement law, the city attorney can seek a court order to encourage a property owner to prevent criminal problems from recurring.

“The location has been a major center for drug dealing, mostly cocaine and heroin, in the East San Fernando Valley,” Hahn said. In the past 20 months, 41 drug-related arrests have been made there.

Named in the lawsuit are Steve Kajaoghlanian and his wife, Lucy. The Van Nuys residents have owned the building since July, 1986, Deputy City Atty. Kevin T. Ryan said.

Worst Location

Los Angeles Police Officer Anton H. Inderbitzen, in a declaration attached to the lawsuit, described the apartment complex as the worst location in the department’s North Hollywood division for the sale of drugs.

Police have confiscated cash, along with firearms, ammunition and drug paraphernalia, said Hahn, who added that 10 of the people arrested during the past 20 months were residents of the complex.

“The problems have continued despite the best efforts of the police who have made repeated arrests at the property,” Hahn said. “The time now has come to use abatement procedures and hold the owners accountable for their failure to cooperate with police in cleaning up the problems at their property.”

The lawsuit includes declarations from neighbors who “tell horror stories of living in this area,” Hahn said.

“They tell about being afraid to go outside their homes or to let their children play in front yards, of people wandering around the neighborhood in drug-induced stupors and hiding in shrubbery to avoid police.

“They tell about constant streams of cars, frequently speeding and being driven erratically, coming and going at the apartment complex at all hours of the day and night as people come there to buy drugs,” Hahn said.

‘Gunfire at Night’

“Neighbors also complained about frequently hearing gunfire at night,” said Hahn, who noted that a drug-related killing occurred at the complex in May, 1986.

Lucy Kajaoghlanian said she and her husband have done all they can to stop the drug dealing, including building a gate and evicting troublemakers. She said the problems are caused by outsiders, who she said are the responsibility of the police.

“You want my husband to take a gun and stay there and shoot the guys?” she asked. “I’m not the Police Department.”

“I think I’m going to hire a lawyer because I don’t know what’s going on,” she said.

The court order also requires the owners to post signs on the front and back of the building warning, “These premises are under court order not to be used for the sale, serving or keeping of illegal drugs.”

If the owners violate the order, they can be held in contempt, Ryan said. If the drug dealing persists, Ryan said, the city can seek to close down the apartment complex and ask the court to impose a $25,000 fine on the owners.

The temporary restraining order will remain in effect until a Sept. 30 hearing on Hahn’s request for a preliminary injunction against the owners.