This Macon apartment complex is an epicenter of violence and emergency calls, lawsuit claims
A Bibb County Superior Court judge ordered the owners of a Macon apartment complex to turn over control of its assets to an attorney Friday after Macon-Bibb County filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the housing group because of its violent track record, court documents show.
The Green Meadows Townhouses, located just off Log Cabin Drive in west Macon, was the scene of several incidents over recent years including a 7-year-old wounded in a shooting, multiple murders and other violent crimes, the county said in a statement Friday.
There were over 144 incidents of gunfire at the apartment complex between March 2022 and June 2023, the county said. Documents showed over 1,800 emergency calls came from the location during the same timespan and that the townhouses had the most crime per capita of any complex in the county.
Other safety issues plagued the townhouses at Green Meadows, including guards who allegedly enforced a phony 9 p.m. curfew on people living there, according to the lawsuit. If residents were out past that hour guards forced them to pay money, and sometimes demanded sexual favors when tenants could not pay.
Residents at Green Meadows also told the county that the owners of the townhouses threatened to evict tenants who reported code violations. Complaints were filed nonetheless, with problems at the complex ranging from electrical hazards and water leaks to extensive property damage.
At one point the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office installed a camera at the complex for safety reasons, but Georgia Power removed the light pole that powered the cameras because Green Meadows posed a safety threat to their workers, the lawsuit said.
The apartments will now be turned over to Boniface Echols of Echols Law Firm, who judge Bryant Culpepper tasked with making sure the property follows new guidelines for safety, court records show.
Here’s a list of some other incidents the lawsuit alleges happened at Green Meadows.
- Multiple people threatened to shoot up the apartments in the last year
- A man at the complex exposed himself to children
- Multiple shootouts between residents and visitors
- Multiple cases of bullets coming through apartment walls and hitting sitting residents, including a 13-year-old girl
- Guards who, in addition to enforcing a fine for a fake “curfew,” fought among themselves
- Several other robberies, shootings, stabbings and violent crimes
- Multiple apartments was reportedly infested with rodents
- Apartments with code violations related to sewage and other problems
The lawsuit and abatement come on the heels of the county’s filing against M&M Grocery, another violent spot in Macon, that led to restricted operating hours for the store.