'I don 't feel safe': Hyde Park residents sue apartment complex after power outage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There's more information on a power outage at a Hyde Park apartment complex, forcing residents to move out for weeks.
CBS 2's Noel Brennan reports from Hyde Park where those tenants are demanding the management company give them more than just answers.
Temperatures right before Christmas were well below zero. That's when residents inside two buildings were sent out into the cold. Some didn't come back for weeks.
The lights are on now, but not when residents needed them most at the Algonquin Apartments in Hyde Park. On Christmas Eve, about 180 residents were evacuated, in the dark, when the building lost, heat, water and electricity.
"The (Chicago) Department of Buildings has release findings confirming that Mac Properties, who runs these buildings, caused the outage through improper, unpermitted electrical work," said attorney Caryn Lederer. "DOB found that Mac Properties transferred the buildings heat source from basement boilers to individual window units, and this overwhelmed the electrical system."
Attorneys filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of residents. People like Gabriella Johnson.
"I don't want to stay there. I don't feel safe. I was homeless one time for seven years and never felt this frightened. I was really petrified."
Johnson and her neighbors were forced out of their homes for nearly three weeks. Christmas was ruined.
"When I got to my door, I saw that all the doors was kicked down. Someone had stolen most of my kids' Christmas gifts; PlayStation 5s. A lot of my worthy, valuable things."
Residents are suing the property owners for violating their rights and for negligence.
"It was dark. My phone was dead and I didn't know what to do. I was scared," Johnson said.
"I made it through the night by wearing several layers of clothing to keep warm," added resident Maxine Lathan.
"Our office has received call after call from tenants who went through their own version of this same nightmare," Lederer said.
The lights are back on, but many residents now choose to live somewhere else.
Gabriella Johnson has lived there for three years – and she wants out. She also wants Mac Properties to cover the cost of her move. CBS 2 reached out to Mac Properties for comment, but have not heard back.