DOWNTOWN : Bugs, Safety Hazards Discovered at Hotel

The owners of a 265-room hotel where city and county inspectors have reportedly found cockroaches, broken toilets, chained-up fire escapes and backed-up sewage will respond to slumlord charges in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Thursday.

Junn Hsiong Hsiao, 56, of Palos Verdes Estates, and Song Lieng Lee, 44, of Hacienda Heights, named as executives of Western Pacific International Inc., have been charged with 30 misdemeanor counts of health, fire and building code violations at the Pacific Grand Hotel, 416 S. Spring St.

Members of the Slum Housing Task Force found dozens of health and safety hazards throughout the 12-story building during a routine check in January and directed the owners to fix the problems.

Despite several inspections and warnings over subsequent months, a June 4 check revealed that few, if any, of the violations had been corrected, said Deputy City Atty. Michael Wilkinson.

Health, fire, plumbing and building inspectors photographed broken windows, doors, plumbing and electrical fixtures, and exposed wires throughout the building.

Health inspectors also found cockroaches in at least 20 rooms, according to a report filed with the complaint. Fire inspectors found at least 10 defective or broken fire doors and a fire escape drop ladder that was chained in a manner that prevented quick emergency release.

Most of the rooms were occupied during the June inspection, Wilkinson said.

Western Pacific has owned the building since 1977 and had no previous record of problems before this year, Wilkinson said.

Defense attorney Jim Morris said the building problems were due to Hsiao’s poor health, which kept the owner from keeping up the property. Hsiao also had undergone eye surgery and was unable to respond to inspectors’ notices to correct the problems, Morris added.

But Western Pacific is now fixing the problems, most of which are “cosmetic,” Morris said.

“My clients want their building to be in as good shape as possible for their tenants,” Morris said. “They’ve always tried to comply with all the codes.”