Indy public housing residents sue IHA over security

INDIANAPOLIS — Residents of the Richard Lugar Tower public housing community have filed suit against the Indianapolis Housing Agency over its plans to discontinue around-the-clock security for the downtown high-rise apartment building.

883 times from January 1, 2023, until this past Sunday, IMPD responded to the apartments at 901 Ft. Wayne Avenue on reports of trespassers sleeping in hallways, assaults, drug use and people with guns.

And that’s with private security on the premises.

”Police used to come in here every day,” said resident Oscar Estrada. “They used to come in here every day.”

Now, IHA has served notice to the community that as of June 30th, there will no longer be security officers on duty 24 hours a day.

“That’s not a good thing for us who live here,” said Sandra Barnes, one of the residents who filed the lawsuit, “that the building is gonna be an open door all over again for the homeless, the transients and everything else that comes with that.”

Barnes said one of the biggest challenges is keeping out trespassers.

”They were lying in our hallways, our stairwells and our laundry rooms because the door wasn’t secure and they were just in here, they were just in and out of here, couldn’t control it because no one was here to control it,” she said.

IHA’s contract management partner reportedly spends $24,000 a month providing 24/7 security. That provider is pulling out of its management contract in one month.

Security is not the only problem at Lugar Tower.

A pest control truck was parked outside Thursday afternoon, and this was just a couple of hours after repair crews finally got elevators in the 17-story building to work following six months of shutdown and a lawsuit filed by the Marion County Public Health Department this month.

“Some people here ain’t got no legs,” said Estrada, who lamented that some residents had essentially become prisoners on their upper floors, not to mention the fire evacuation risk neighbors faced.

”It shouldn’t be acceptable that we are here without elevators on these floors and stuff. That when it broke down February 21 it should’ve been fixed between March and the first of April,” said Barnes. ”Just get it back to where it’s supposed to be. Where it should have been.

“It’s got Senator Lugar’s name on it.”

The neighbors are seeking a Temporary Restraining Order to halt the security cutback until a judge can determine if Lugar Tower is a safe place to live.

IHA did not respond to a request for comment.