'Beyond Reckless': Atlanta Attorneys Plan To Sue Arrive Perimeter Apts. After Explosion
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (CW69 News at 10) -- Attorneys representing victims of an apartment explosion at the Arrive Perimeter Apartments in Dunwoody announced plans to file a lawsuit.
Thirty-year-old Jasmine Johnson had lived in Building 2 at the complex since February. She never could have imagined what happened Sunday afternoon. "There was a huge explosion, and I was thrown into the wall," Johnson said. "I was so scared, and I'm thankful to my dog for waking me up."
The explosion left 4 people injured and displaced several others. Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys represents Johnson and several other residents, and they plan to sue the property. "The complex and its management company Trinity played Russian Roulette with the lives of countless individuals, countless minority individuals," said L. Chris Stewart, one of the attorneys. "Ms. Johnson's going back and forth to the hospital. Surgery is in the future for her shoulder," he said.
The attorneys say residents complained about a gas odor long before the explosion. "I had been smelling gas for two to three days. I thought it was coming from my parking garage, so to find out it was caused by something else is really disheartening," said Johnson. "Clearly they have been ignoring these people. We're gonna find out if it's because they were minorities," Steward said. "We find it really, really disturbing to know that they knew about this, failed to do anything to prevent it and then this explosion occurred," said Madeleine Simmons, another attorney.
The City of Dunwoody shut the gas off on Monday, after finding two leaks that were not associated with this incident. They issued a statement Thursday night indicating, "All parties are doing their best to restore service as quickly as is safely possible." "The fact that an apartment complex and their management company would not come out there and fix complaints of gas, which you know can lead to an explosion, is beyond reckless," said Stewart. A lot of people need jobs right now. If you're understaffed, hire someone, but this is not gonna keep happening here. You could have killed somebody," he said.
DeKalb County Fire and Rescue says it's not investigating the explosion, since there was no fire. They say it's up to the property's insurance company to confirm if a gas leak officially caused it. The attorneys also referenced other maintenance issues residents have complained about that the property has allegedly not addressed, including dirty air ducts.
CW69 reached out a second time to the Arrive Perimeter leasing office and Trinity, the property management company, and there was no immediate response.
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