PEORIA, Ill. – A fire at an apartment complex early Tuesday morning is now being investigated as an arson.
Peoria Fire officials say evidence in an office area of Lexington Hills apartments on the edge of Central Peoria points to a break-in and an intentional fire, though suspects have not been identified.
Residents there say they’re not surprised.
“It happened after those letters came out. They sent us some letters,” said one resident who did not want to be identified, to 25 News.
The letter reads:
“Now that COVID-19 has passed and all restrictions have been lifted. Lexington Hills will now be aggressively filling for evictions this year of 2022!! There is now zero tolerance for the following issues: Unpaid account balances/rent, multiple lease violations, bad guest-visitors/criminal activity/weapons, unsupervised underage children out on property (causing issues), unresolved Ameren/Cilco issues and balances.”
Residents claim both the property managers and the security firm Pinnacle Security constantly harass tenants.
“If somebody’s fighting, and you’ve got nothing to do with it, but you’re just there, you’d better move, because you’re going to get shot because you’re out there,” said another anonymous resident to 25 News. “They don’t care. They will actually shoot you with those pepperball guns.”
Pinnacle says there’s been an uptick in fights since the summer. Security bodycam video shows an instance where a man was tazed after allegedly coming at security guards with a metal pole.
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