Criminal Charges Filed Against South-Central Apartment Building Owners
The city attorney has filed criminal slum charges against two brothers accused of 23 fire, health and building and safety violations.
Peter Michael Petro, 31, of Pasadena and Joseph Andrew Petro, 27, of Rancho Palos Verdes are to be arraigned Aug. 19 in Municipal Court.
The brothers obtained the 38-unit apartment building at 1462-1464 S. Central Ave. last year as a gift from their father, according to the city attorney’s office.
“The building had a history of problems with city agencies,” said Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.
“Inspections conducted in April and May showed defective firefighting equipment and fire doors as well as missing vent screens that allowed rodent infestations.”
Goldstein said criminal, rather than civil, charges were filed because of the severity of the problems. They were filed after the Slum Housing Task Force inspected the complex.
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