Residents at Lewiston Apartments are concerned about the rise in crime and squatters

TULSA, Okla. — A deadly stabbing last weekend at the Lewiston Apartments in south Tulsa is making residents question how safe it is to live there.

Police say there were several adults staying in the apartment at the time of the homicide that occurred on Sunday afternoon.

One resident didn’t want to give his name but said he has lived at the Lewiston for 2 years and he is seeing a lot of drug activity and homeless people in the complex.

He says, “I do a lot of walking with my dog out here and I see people moving around and I do see some criminal activity, some drug activity. I used to be in that situation so yeah, I do see it.”

The resident says homeless people are hanging out at the apartments and he just doesn’t feel safe. “We have a lot of homeless that roam through here and it is very unsafe. I don’t let my grandkids go out because it is unsafe for them. I have to be out there with them,” he says.

This resident says the homeless are staying in empty units and management is doing nothing to help the situation.

He says, “They do sneak into the apartments, I have seen where they open windows and open doors and they really don’t lock them. Management makes it easy for them to get in so the homeless sleep right in there.”

The Tulsa Housing Authority helps to provide housing vouchers for people who are experiencing or who are at risk for homelessness, but they do not manage the apartments.

The Lewiston apartments are owned by the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma and they own about 1,500 units around town.

Ginny Hensley with THA says they are not aware that residents are letting multiple people crash at their place, but that is not okay. Hensley says the only people who should be staying in the apartments are the ones receiving the vouchers.

Hensley says, “Keeping with the project-based voucher program, it would be specific to the family or individual that applied for the voucher so no it would not be acceptable for others to live there as part of that program.”

Hensley says THA vets and inspects the units with people who receive their vouchers. THA says property management should be letting them know if the voucher program is being abused, but they want residents to report anything that concerns them so they can fix it.

Hensley says residents who have concerns or feel unsafe should contact their housing coordinator so THA can look into it and resolve the situation.

Although many residents at The Lewiston are receiving rent vouchers, a lot of residents are not.

Lexie is one of these residents and says she has some concerns about the residents living at the Lewiston, but she is way more concerned with squatters becoming her neighbors.

Lexie says, “There is a huge problem with homelessness in that area and I do know that the summer before this summer they did have problems with the homeless people breaking into the vacant units.”

Lexie says the crime in the area has spiked so much that police cars have become a staple at The Lewiston.

“Cops are in and out of that complex all the time. It’s a weekly thing that I see swarms of police somewhere in that complex,” she says.

Lexie says she just wants to feel safe in her own home.

She says,” I hope that the property owners and management will increase security or police presence so that we feel safe. The homeless issue needs to be taken care of above all else. I feel like that is where a lot of the crime and issues and safety concerns come from and it’s not just them. It’s the people that live here too.”

East Oak Property Management is in charge of the MHA’s properties and you can find out where those properties are at eastoakpropertymanagement.com.

We reached out to the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma.

They were not available for an interview, but they did send a statement saying, “Mental Health Association Oklahoma owns multiple apartment communities. Within these properties, some of our units are dedicated to people coming out of street homelessness who participate in one or more of our programs. Other units are priced at affordable market rates for low-to-moderate income working households. Like any landlord, we have standard rental protocols including background checks and income verification. The man involved in the incident Sunday was an affordable market rate renter. Lewiston is a large apartment community. We turn apartments as quickly as possible once a tenant moves out. The health, well-being and safety of all our residents is top priority.”

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