Carbon Monoxide In Apartment, Woman Fears For Life
Hermelinda Santiago Baez has been to the hospital on three different occasions in the last week. Doctors determined there was a high level of carbon monoxide in her system.
Santiago Baez says her home in the Pine Creek Village Apartments on the 700 block of Chapman Dr. is to blame.
The woman says she has been dealing with headaches and dizziness for some time.
“I’ve had headaches for several months. I’ve been feeling weak. I made a doctors appointment and they didn’t know why my head was hurting,” says Santiago Baez in an interview conducted in Spanish.
Santiago Baez says she got a carbon monoxide detector over the weekend and that it went off soon after being installed.
She feared for her life and called 911. Santiago Baez says Pine Creek Village Management bullied her after she called for help and was told that she should not go over managements head by calling 911.
“I went to the hospital on Sunday. I was sick, I couldn’t breath, my chest hurt and I had a huge headache which has persisted,” says Santiago Baez.
Her doctor recommended she and her family should not return to the apartment until it was fixed.
Santiago Baez says she reported the incident to management at the Pine Creek Village apartments, and that she was told it was not the complex’s responsibility.
After getting some help from her doctor, Santiago Baez says the State was contacted and the complex quickly replaced the damaged heater she had complained about.
Still, Santiago Baez says she never found out why management at Pine Creek Village took so long to respond to her complaints, so she contacted Target 13 Investigates for help.
In the apartment a cleaning crew vacuumed and fixed leaky ceilings. Santiago Baez showed Target 13 Investigates the new heater.
Prior to an interview with Santiago Baez, another Pine Creek Village employee came into the apartment and continuously demanded Target 13 Investigates leave the property despite being invited inside the home by the renter.
Request for comment on the response time by the apartment complex and questions over if the complex was forced to take responsibility by the state were ignored.
Santiago Baez says she now fears she will be thrown out of her home for standing up for her and her family’s safety.
Friday, three apartments in the Cedar Crest Complex on the 2000 block of Carmel Dr. were red tagged after carbon monoxide contamination.
The Cedar Crest Apartments and and the Pine Creek Village Apartments are owned by Terry Ragan who has come under fire in the past for not keeping his properties in good condition.
